Using cutting-edge high-resolution microscopy, researchers were able to track the developmental stages of butterfly scales, tracing their formation from caterpillar to butterfly and revealing how they become so vivacious.
Their work reveals that actin, a protein in butterfly’s scales, orchestrates the intricate arrangement of the colorful structures.
Conducted at the University of Sheffield and the Central Laser Facility, scientists noticed that the colorful scales had much denser actin bundles, creating more reflective ridges than dull-colored scales.
Using powerful microscopes, the researchers watched as actin shifted during scale growth and color formation, demonstrating how actin is crucial for creating a butterfly’s colors, and is likely a universal process among all butterflies. They also observed that if the actin structures were dismantled or too drastically altered, the colors faded before the eye.
“Actin is like a dressmaker, laying out and pinning the arrangement of these structures to shape the vibrant colors,” said Dr. Andrew Parnell, lead author of the study. “Once the actin has finished its work it departs the cell like the removal of pins in dressmaking.”
“Butterfly scale nanostructures are a powerful way in which to make long-lasting bright colors that don’t fade or become bleached by the ultraviolet rays of the sun. The museums of the world contain direct evidence of this,” he added.
Actin causes butterfly wing colors via scales in H. sara – University of Sheffield
By investigating the mechanisms behind butterfly wing coloration, researchers hope to gain insights into broader areas of cell structure formation, including potential applications in sensing and diagnostics that could be important for a whole host of technologies including medicine.
Structural color-based technologies, mimicking the reflective properties of butterfly scales, hold promise in fields such as sensors and medical diagnostics, offering rapid and responsive solutions outside traditional laboratory-based approaches.
The study was published in Nature Communications.
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Baseball star Bryce Harper helps student ask girl to prom – Instagram
Baseball star Bryce Harper helps student ask girl to prom – Instagram
The Phillies’ superstar slugger Bryce Harper just turned into the ultimate wingman for a teen looking to ask a girl out to prom.
Knowing his high school sweetheart to be a massive Phillies fan, Jake Portella reasoned that if he could get Harper to help him deliver the question, she would be certain to say yes.
In a viral video shared by Major League Baseball, Portella and Harper are outside Giullia Leonetti’s front door. When the young woman answers it, Harper asks her if she would like to go to prom with Portella. Hugs, disbelief, but most importantly a ‘yes’ follow.
But how did a teenager at Haddonfield Memorial High School in New Jersey manage to get arguably MLB’s biggest star to help out?
“I’ve been brainstorming ideas for prom for a couple weeks and I knew I wanted to do something Phillies-themed because she loves the Phillies so much,” Portella told MLB.com. “I was talking to one of my friends and I was like, ‘There’s some Phillies players who live in town, it’d be cool if I could get one of them to help me with it.’”
One of those players happened to be Bryce Harper, and Portella, deserving of recognition for some serious courage, came by one day and simply knocked on the slugger’s door to ask if he could “help in any capacity.”
It’s always cool and refreshing when celebrities behave exactly like normal people, and after answering the door, Harper asked for Portella’s contact information so that maybe he could help out. Then he had a change of heart.
As for Leonetti, she was left in tears and total shock that “the chosen one” had arrived at her door. Unfortunately for Portella, she wasn’t referring to him, but she said yes all the same.
Scheduled for June 14th, any further surprise prom appearences of “the chosen one” seem unlikely, as he will be several hundred miles to the south for a 3-game series against the Baltimore Orioles.
credit - Matt Barnard/OSU Center for Health Sciences
credit – Matt Barnard/OSU Center for Health Sciences
In 2020, GNN reported that the inaugural class of the nation’s first medical college on a Native American reservation had begun their studies. Well now, they’ve just graduated.
The 46 graduating students from Oklahoma State University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine at the Cherokee Nation include fifteen members of tribes all around the country, including Cherokee, Choctaw, Muscogee, Seminole, Chickasaw, Alaska Native, Caddo, and Osage.
Dr. Natasha Bray, the school’s dean, said that the college was formed to address a shortage of tribal physicians in the US, as just 0.3% of all licensed medical practitioners are Native American.
Part of what makes the college observing its first graduates so exciting is that the $40 million it cost to build and staff the facilities was paid for entirely by the Cherokee nation, who designed it to be a culturally relevant building, with the Hippocratic oath written on the walls in both Cherokee and English.
Cherokee artwork decorates the walls, and a medicinal plant garden is located on the site.
“I couldn’t even have dreamed this up,” said 26-year-old Choctaw member and now OSU graduate, Mackenzee Thompson. “To be able to serve my people and learn more about my culture is so exciting. I have learned so much already.”
According to PBS News, osteopathic doctors, or DOs, have the same qualifications and training as allopathic doctors, or MDs, but the two types of doctors attend different schools.
While MDs learn from traditional programs, the focus of DOs will be more on holistic medicine, and they are typically found in primary care facilities in rural areas. Native elders participate in the medical curriculum to teach about traditional healing practices.
“It’s our mission to be as culturally competent as we can,” Thompson told NPR. “Learning this is making me not only a better doctor but helping patients trust me more,” she said, adding that now she’s more likely to ask about a patient’s diet or if they are open to trying holistic remedies.
In the days leading up to the European, cap and gown style graduation, the graduates were honored with a ceremony conducted by the chiefs of 5 different native tribes, in which the graduates were given gifts, including a beaded stethoscope.
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First prize in the USA’s largest and most prestigious science fair has gone to a 16-year-old girl who found new ways to optimize the components of biomedical implants, promising a future of safer, faster, and longer-lasting versions of these critical devices.
It’s not the work of science fiction; bioelectronic implants like the pacemaker have been around for decades, but also suffer from compatibility issues interfacing with the human body.
On Friday, Grace Sun from Lexington, Kentukcy, pocketed $75,000 and was recognized among 2,000 of the nation and the world’s top STEM students as having produced the “number one project.”
Sun’s work focused on improving the capabilities of organic electrochemical transistors or OECTs, which like other devices made of silicon, are soft, flexible, and present the possibility of more complex implants for use in the brain or the heart.
“They have performance issues right now,” Sun told Business Insider of the devices. “They have instability in the body. You don’t want some sort of implanted bioelectronic to degrade in your body.”
Sensitive OECTs could detect proteins or nucleic acids in sweat, blood, or other transporters that correspond to diseases in their earliest stages. They could replace more invasive implants like the aforementioned pacemaker, and offer unprecedented ways to track biomarkers such as blood glucose, circulating white blood cell count, or blood-alcohol content, which could be useful for people with autoimmunity, epilepsy, or diabetes.
“This was our number one project, without a shadow of a doubt,” Ian Jandrell, a judging co-chair for the materials science category at ISEF, told Business Insider about Sun’s research.
“It was crystal clear that that room was convinced that this was a significant project and worthy of consideration for a very top award because of the contribution that was made.”
Sun says she is looking to develop the OECTs further, hoping to start a business in the not-too-distant future as a means of getting them out into the world and impacting real people as fast as possible.
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Quote of the Day: “Silence is the sleep that nourishes wisdom.” – Francis Bacon
Photo: by Inspa Makers, public domain
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?
92 years ago today, one of Europe’s greatest landscape engineering projects, the Afsuiltdijk, was completed in the Netherlands, proving that newly-mechanized Man could tame not only the land, but also the seas. The Afsuiltdijk closed off Zuiderzee (South Sea) Bay and converted it into a freshwater lake called IJsselmeer. In the previous 100 years, the Dutch had become experts at turning wetlands into polderland for farming, and armed with hydraulic machinery, they saw no reason why they couldn’t turn a sea into farmland either. READ how it happened… (1932)
A view over Guam's coastal towns - Dorothy CC 2.0.
A view over Guam’s coastal towns – Dorothy CC 2.0.
For over decade, big pharma has been pouring billions into drug trials for Alzheimer’s disease treatments without progress.
But what if there were a neuroprotective compound with better early-stage results than any developed pharmaceutical sitting right on our dinner plates?
That’s what Dr. Paul Cox may have discovered after solving the mystery of neurodegenerative disease on Guam, where in the 1990s, the rates of ALS and Alzheimer’s-like symptoms were 120% higher than in the rest of the world.
Dr. Cox would eventually discover that cyanobacteria, the same lifeforms that make green algae, produce a natural toxin called BMAA that was seeping into trees on the island. The trees would then grow seeds rich in the toxin—seeds that were eaten by flying fox bats, which in turn were hunted by locals for protein.
The BMAA was then poisoning the locals and causing, as Dr. Cox put it, deaths from neurodegenerative diseases in “every family” that he spoke to. In 2003, Cox told the world about it.
“When we realized that cyanobacteria might be the culprit, it was like staring into the abyss because we realized you could be exposed anywhere,” Dr. Cox told CNN in a mini-doc, who didn’t in any sense say that cyanobacteria was the cause of Alzheimer’s, but that it was a “risk factor.”
Seeking to understand and quantify the toxicology of BMAA, Dr. Cox ran a trial through his non-profit, the Brain Chemistry Labs at the Institute for Ethnomedicine, Jackson. What he discovered was that when monkeys were given the toxic BMAA plus an amino acid called L-serine, the neurotoxic effect was reduced by 85%.
L-serine is nothing magical—it’s one of many non-essential amino acids we consume in our diets. Amino acids collectively represent what is labeled on food products as ‘protein.’
L-serine is found in eggs and meat, as well as edamame, tofu, seaweed, and sweet potatoes in lower amounts.
Seeing the dramatic protective effects that L-serine conferred upon the monkeys, Dr. Cox took the data to the FDA and set up clinical trials to investigate this simple amino acid as a possible treatment for Alzheimer’s.
The last part of this interesting story is that Dr. Cox wasn’t trained as a neurologist, but rather an ‘ethnobotantist’—he studies how human cultures use plants for medicine. On the island of Okinawa, a ‘Blue Zone’ famous for its longevity, Dr. Cox discovered that the residents of Ogimi Village consumed on average about 400% more L-serine than the average American.
This observational evidence combined with his lab data has given Dr. Cox tremendous confidence that his placebo-controlled trial looking at Alzheimer’s patients supplementing with L-serine will produce the goods, and that this simple dietary component could be the first off-the-shelf treatment for Alzheimer’s.
WATCH a mini-doc on the subject from CNN…
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credit - Bridging North America, released to the press
credit – Bridging North America, released to the press
The new US-Canada border crossing won’t be ready until 2025, but seeing that only a hockey rink-sized gap remains between the US and Canadian sections, it’s an appropriate place to celebrate the imminent completion of the Gordie Howe Memorial Bridge.
With one skate in Detroit and another in Windsor, Ontario, the bridge deck is set to be finished in June according to the joint-venture contractor, Bridging North America.
It’s far from just your average bridge, and Engineering News Record reports that with the central segment spanning 0.53 miles between the two bridge towers, it will have the longest main span of any cable-stayed bridge in North America.
It also will be the longest steel and concrete composite deck for any cable-stayed bridge in the world.
Nicknamed “Mr. Hockey”, Gordie Howe after whom the bridge is named, is considered the most complete player to ever play the game. At his retirement, his 801 goals, 1,049 assists, and 1,850 total points won mostly through his 25 seasons with the Detroit Red Wings, were all NHL records that stood until they were broken by Wayne Gretzky.
The bridge won’t only connect Detroit and Windsor, Interstate 75 and its Canadian equivalent, and the United States and Canada, but also two hockey-loving nations who shared in this great man’s sporting capacities: one by the nation of his birth, and the other by the city in which he dominated for so long.
“Bridging North America is proud of the dedicated engineers and skilled tradespeople whose unwavering commitment to safety and excellence has propelled us closer to completing the bridge deck of the Gordie Howe International Bridge. Their resilience and skill are the driving force behind the realization of this historic infrastructure project,” said David Henderson, CEO of BNA, in a statement.
The bridge will include customs facilities on both sides, and probably be open to traffic by October of 2025, 29 months short of Howe’s hundredth birthday.
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The endangered Devils Hole pupfish in Death Valley – USFWS / O. Feuebacher
The endangered Devils Hole pupfish in Death Valley – USFWS / O. Feuebacher
Quick: Where is the most unlikely place to find a fish in the USA? Unless your answer was Death Valley, you were probably wrong.
The Devils Hole pupfish holds the official record for the smallest habitat of any vertebrate species. That’s because it lives in a single limestone cave in a Nevada wildlife refuge in Death Valley and nowhere else.
Now, the latest population survey shows that the number of fish has reached a 25-year high, with over 200 individuals counted after spring breeding, officials in Nevada report.
It’s a long way from the low of 35 fish seen in the 2013 survey.
“It’s exciting to see an increasing trend, especially in this highly variable population. Increasing numbers allow the managing agencies to consider research that may not have been possible in the past, when even slight perturbations of habitat or fish had to be completely avoided,” Senior Fish Biologist for the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Michael Schwemm, said the press release. “We’re excited about the future directions with respect managing this species.”
According to the FWS, the 0.9-inch fish lives only in the habitat of Devils Hole—composed of two distinct areas: a limestone rock shelf that is 11 feet-6 inches by 16 feet-5 inches and 11.8 inches deep, and a second area 11 feet by 55 feet-10 inches in area and an unknown depth.
The Devils Hole pupfish resides in the upper 80 feet (24.38 meters) of the body of water, where the temperature remains a constant 91.4 to 93.3 degrees Fahrenheit.
It eats primarily algae and diatoms, and that’s the extent of this fish’s life. One wonders what the equivalent of a natural goldfish bowl is like to live in for this fish, and for how many generations their little silver and blue bodies have graced its turquoise waters.
Do they dream of what lies beyond their sheltered cove, or what manner of beast it is that stands upright above the water with pen and paper ogling them? We may never know, but there is a cold comfort given to the nature lover who knows, even if they never witness it, that a small and inconceivably vulnerable fish lives on still in peace and tranquility in the desert.
WATCH a quick news bulletin below…
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Does your two-year-old need a winter coat for a skiing holiday that they will outgrow before the following winter? What if there’s a cosmic phenomenon that’s taking place you want to see but you have no interest in owning a telescope? Have you ever thought about taking up photography but felt a $1,000 camera investment was risky?
A new retail phenomenon is addressing concerned consumers who are looking to escape spending for waste creation by developing a concept called a “library of things” (LoT) where people can come and rent just about anything, from baby clothes to air fryers.
There are over 2,000 LoTs located in the English-speaking world and Central Europe, and some have been in operation since 1976. Half of them though only sprang up in the last five years.
E-waste, or the tossing of electronic items without repairing them, has become a real challenge for landfills and recycling companies around the world, as has ‘fast fashion’—the world of low-cost, kitchy, or single-use garments and textiles which have piled up in landfills.
If you find yourself frustrated with this kind of throwaway culture, perhaps it’s time to check if there’s a LoT near you.
Every LoT will have different regulations and systems, but essentially the concept works by setting up an account and paying a rental fee for each day or month in which you check out one of their items. The cost may vary based on season (gardening equipment might be more costly to rent in summer) or availability.
“In summer we see a lot more garden items being used: strimmers, hedge trimmers, lawn mowers, tents for adventuring, ice cream makers, and gazebos for barbecues,” Rebecca Trevalyan, co-founder of an LoT in London, told the Guardian.
“We really want to make rental go mainstream, make it more affordable, convenient and socially rewarding than buying something from Amazon.”
The list of product classes that seem to lend themselves to this sort of a rental model is significantly extensive, and in every case, one can imagine buying an item only to use it two or three times before deciding whether going through the trouble of selling it second hand or binning it.
“We have items that have been used more than 300 times by more than 200 different people,” Gene Homicki, co-founder of LoT organizer myTurn, said in a recent podcast interview. “Some examples of “radical reuse” from Libraries of Things on our platform include a DeWalt table saw that has been loaned out 321 times to 211 different people… and tents and camping sleeping pads that spent over 250 days in use in the last year”.
Camping equipment, sporting goods, fast fashion and acessories, baby clothes, baby supplies, gardening equipment, beach supplies, tools, machinery, all manner of toys, home electronics, specialty cooking pieces, extra furniture to accomodate visitors, pet supplies, classroom supplies, hobby supplies, musicial instruments, fitness equipment, optics, and probably others, can all be kept out of the landfill by first admitting that we’re not sure if we will use the product more than a few times, and then going to an LoT to rent it.
Most LoTs will also permit renters to buy outright the products they have checked out, making the service ideal for an adult looking to try out a new hobby, or a child who wants to get into a sport (we all know how fickle children can be).
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Quote of the Day: “A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.” – Joseph Campbell (Honoring Memorial Day in the US)
Photo: by Aaron Burden, public domain
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?
Ibn Khaldun statue in Algeria - Reda Kerbush CC 4.0. (Copy)
692 years ago today, Ibn Khaldun, the Tunisian Arab scholar who is recognized as one of the greatest scientists of the Middle Ages, was born in Tunis. He wrote a massive contemporary history entitled Book of Lessons, Record of Beginnings and Events in the History of the Arabs and the Berbers and Their Powerful Contemporaries. It was an extraordinarily long history of North Africa, the Near East, and Arabia, during which he proposed several foundational sociological concepts still used today. READ about his contributions to economics, sociology, and historicity… (1332)
A third of your month is bound to be ‘extraordinary,’ according to a new survey.
The poll of 2,000 Americans found the average person has 10 extraordinary days per month—that’s 120 every year.
And if you live in Hawaii, Idaho, or South Dakota, you can bump that up to 13 days per month.
Living a joyful lifestyle is subjective and unique to everyone. However, big majorities agreed on several things that would define a joyful life:
What is a Joyful Life?
Feeling happy (77%)
Being healthy (71%)
Having positive personal and family relationships (69%)
Feeling comfortable (69%)
The survey—commissioned by Santa Margherita and conducted by Talker Research—aimed to figure out exactly how often Americans treat themselves, and which occasions call for indulgence.
Results found half believe “any day is a good day” to treat themselves, and they enjoy spending their most joyful days with family and friends (62%). Fully 76% said they prefer sharing their joyful feelings with others whenever they can.
Respondents reported certain times when they’re most likely to treat themselves to something nice:
When Are You Likely to ‘Treat’ Yourself?
During my birthday (66%)
While on vacation (59%)
When I’m having a good day (48%)
Sixty-one percent say they consider a nice meal to be the perfect treat for an extraordinary day, alongside a nice beverage.
More than seven in 10 (71%) said indulgences like these are best shared with others — especially their significant others (75%), family members (72%) and close friends (65%).
Over three-quarters (78%) like to host family and friends in their home for dinners and a similar 80% believe pairing food and wine typically enhances the overall dining experience and makes the meal feel fancier.
“The answer to what makes life sweet and extraordinary is a little different for all of us, but at its core, it’s about appreciating the simple things around us,” said Jane Scott, Marketing Vice President at Santa Margherita USA.
Cheaper and greener batteries for electric cars and mobile phones could use our common element iron, rather than scarce, expensive ones, shows new research.
A collaboration co-led by an Oregon State University chemistry researcher is hoping to spark a green battery revolution by showing that iron instead of cobalt and nickel can be used as a cathode material in lithium-ion batteries.
“We’ve transformed the reactivity of iron metal, the cheapest metal commodity,” he said. “Our electrode can offer a higher energy density than the state-of-the-art cathode materials in electric vehicles.
“And since we use iron, whose cost can be less than a dollar per kilogram – a small fraction of nickel and cobalt, which are indispensable in current high-energy lithium-ion batteries – the cost of our batteries is potentially much lower.”
At present, the cathode represents 50% of the cost in making a lithium-ion battery cell, Ji said. Beyond economics, iron-based cathodes would allow for greater safety and sustainability, he added.
As more and more lithium-ion batteries are manufactured to electrify the transportation sector, global demand for nickel and cobalt has soared. Ji points out that in a matter of a couple of decades, predicted shortages in nickel and cobalt will put the brakes on battery production as it’s currently done.
In addition, those elements’ energy density is already being extended to its ceiling level – if it were pushed further, oxygen released during charging could cause batteries to ignite – plus cobalt is toxic, meaning it can contaminate ecosystems and water sources if it leaches out of landfills.
Put it all together, Professor Ji said, and it’s easy to understand the global quest for new, more sustainable battery chemistries.
A battery stores power in the form of chemical energy and through reactions converts it to the electrical energy needed to power vehicles as well as cellphones, laptops and many other devices and machines. There are multiple types of batteries, but most of them work the same basic way and contain the same basic components.
Oregon State University
A battery consists of two electrodes – the anode and cathode, typically made of different materials – as well as a separator and electrolyte, a chemical medium that allows for the flow of electrical charge. During battery discharge, electrons flow from the anode into an external circuit and then collect at the cathode.
In a lithium-ion battery, as its name suggests, a charge is carried via lithium ions as they move through the electrolyte from the anode to the cathode during discharge, and back again during recharging.
“Our iron-based cathode will not be limited by a shortage of resources,” said Ji, explaining that iron, in addition to being the most common element on Earth as measured by mass, is the fourth-most abundant element in the Earth’s crust.
“We will not run out of iron till the sun turns into a red giant.”
Ji and collaborators from multiple American universities and national laboratories increased the reactivity of iron in their cathode by designing a chemical environment based on a blend of fluorine and phosphate anions—ions that are negatively charged. The blend, thoroughly mixed as a solid solution, allows for the reversible conversion – meaning the battery can be recharged – of a fine mixture of iron powder, lithium fluoride and lithium phosphate into iron salts.
“We’ve demonstrated that the materials design with anions can break the ceiling of energy density for batteries that are more sustainable and cost less,” Ji said. “We’re not using some more expensive salt in conjunction with iron – just those the battery industry has been using and then iron powder. To put this new cathode in applications, one needs to change nothing else – no new anodes, no new production lines, no new design of the battery. We are just replacing one thing, the cathode.”
Storage efficiency still needs to be improved, Ji said. Right now, not all of the electricity put into the battery during charging is available for use upon discharge. When those improvements are made, and Ji expects they will be, the result will be a battery that works much better than ones currently in use while costing less and being greener.
“If there is investment in this technology, it shouldn’t take long for it to be commercially available,” said Ji. “We need the visionaries of the industry to allocate resources to this emerging field. The world can have a cathode industry based on a metal that’s almost free compared to cobalt and nickel. And while you have to work really hard to recycle cobalt and nickel, you don’t even have to recycle iron – it just turns into rust if you let it go.”
The U.S. Department of Energy funded this research, with participation from the Argonne National Laboratory, Vanderbilt University, Stanford University, the University of Maryland, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.
BHISHM airdropped hospital debuts in India–released Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and IAF / SWNS
BHISHM airdropped hospital debuts in India–released Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and IAF / SWNS
Developers showed how the mobile hospital, named the BHISHM Cube, can quickly fall to the ground and allow on-the-spot treatment for patients during mass casualty incidents and other emergencies.
This cube is a part of the broader initiative named “Project BHISHM” – Bharat Health Initiative for Sahyog, Hita and Maitri – and is tailored to treat up to 200 casualties simultaneously, emphasizing rapid response and comprehensive care.
It incorporates advanced medical equipment, AI, and data analytics to improve the efficiency and coordination of medical services.
The Indian air force tested the device in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, on May 14, and upon landing, the hospital was operational within 12 minutes.
“It positions India as a key player in international aid efforts, showcasing its capability to extend assistance beyond its borders in times of need, fostering goodwill and partnerships globally,” said the project in an announcement.
The robust, waterproof, and lightweight unit consists of 72 components that can be easily transported by hand, cycle, or drone, demonstrating unparalleled flexibility.
BHISHM cube portable hospital – India’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting / IAFBHISHM cube portable hospital contents – India’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting / IAF
Each of the cubes weighing 1,500-lb (720kg) includes solar-powered equipment like x-ray machines, and ventilators, along with blood testing devices and provisions for treating a wide range of injuries such as gunshots, burns, fractures, and major bleeding.
Project Bhishma was launched in February 2022, following which the Defense Ministry set up a task force towards this initiative.
Students surprised with cash at graduation from UMass Dartmouth
Students surprised with cash at graduation from UMass Dartmouth
The commencement speaker at a Massachusetts university turned the gray rainy weather into a bright sunshiny day when he announced a surprise gift for every graduating student.
Robert Hale Jr., the founder and CEO of Granite Telecommunications, accepted the UMass Dartmouth Chancellor’s Medal for his philanthropy work in the community—and, at the end of his speech, his generosity revealed itself once again.
Hale began the commencement speech telling the crowd about his career, including losing $1 billion nearly overnight, and urged them not to let failure define them, using his own life as an example of resilience and perseverance.
Before the undergraduate degrees were handed out, Hale came forward and let the graduates know he had more than advice to offer them.
Two large duffle bags were brought on stage by security—and they were packed with envelopes full of cash.
He then announced that each graduate who crossed the stage would be given two envelopes containing $1,000 in cash. The shocked Class of 2024 was told that one envelope with $500 was theirs to keep as a gift.
They would also receive a second $500 envelope to give to someone in need, or a charity or cause close to them.
He described that for him and his wife Karen, “the greatest joys we’ve had in our life have been the gift of giving.”
“These trying times have heightened the need for sharing, caring, and giving,” Hale concluded. “Our community and our world need our help now more than ever.”
Watch the surprise moment in the UMass Dartmouth video below…
Quote of the Day: “Every good garden may have some weeds.” – Thomas Fuller
Photo by: Gaetano Cessati
With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quotes page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?
Track map of the Circuit de la Sarthe - Will Pettenger, CC BY-SA 3.0.
101 years ago today, one of the standout dates on the motorsport calendar, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, held its inaugural event. Le Mans is one of the races—along with the Monaco Grand Prix and Indianapolis 500—that form the Triple Crown of Motorsport, and is the oldest active endurance racing event on Earth. The 24 Hours of Le Mans is won by the car that covers the greatest distance in 24 hours. Thus, racing teams must balance the demands of speed with the cars’ ability to run for 24 hours without mechanical failure. READ more about this famous event… (1923)
For most Americans (80%), there is a distinct difference between a ‘trip’ and a ‘vacation’. That’s according to a survey of 2,000 U.S. adults with travel plans this summer.
The majority of respondents agreed that a vacation is defined as ‘travel for relaxation’.
A trip was defined as travel for a purpose—such as a special event or going somewhere nearby.
Arriving at the destination and getting the first breath of ocean air are two indicators that “vacation mode” is turned on, agreed 60% of those polled.
Conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Motel 6, results revealed that for their summer getaways, overall, travelers are attending events such as family or friend reunions (48%), while others look to explore a new city (36%) or simply kick back and relax (60%).
Whether on vacation or taking a trip, three-fifths (60%) are opting to drive to their destinations this year and 23% are doing so because they’re hoping to spend more time bonding with their travel companions.
Taking that a step further, nearly eight in 10 (77%) of those who are planning to travel by car said driving to their destination makes their travel experiences more enjoyable.
Americans are contributing to their travel adventures by taking on various roles, such as “trip coordinator” (28%), “activities and excursion guide” (22%) or simply a “relaxation reminder” (23%).
“Whether you’re the planner or just along for the ride, there’s nothing better than to relax, enjoy the journey and focus on creating memories,” said Julie Arrowsmith, President of G6 Hospitality, which owns Motel 6 and Studio 6.
For their getaways, most summer travelers will stay at a hotel (61%), followed by rental homes (27%) and family member’s homes (22%).
When considering the cost, almost nine in 10 (87%) travelers said that cost will impact their travel plans this summer, with 40% saying discount codes or other deals which can offset prices are important. Nearly a quarter of those polled said they aim to plan trips in advance to find the best deals.
“Summer trips should be memorable, but they shouldn’t have to break the bank,” added Arrowsmith. “For those paying closer attention to their budget this year, you can still book an exciting trip for yourself or with loved ones, and affordable accommodations as well as rewards programs are a great place to start.”
HOW RESPONDENTS DEFINE A TRIP
● Traveling for a purpose or event — 32%
● Getting out of my city/town — 30%
● Somewhere I can drive to — 18%
● When I will only be away for two days or less — 15%
HOW RESPONDENTS DEFINE A VACATION
● Traveling for relaxation — 53%
● Spending more than three days away from home — 36%
● Completely disconnecting from work — 25%
● Getting out of my city/town— 17%
(Originally published by Knowable Magazine – Written by Ula Chrobak)
Though studies are still mixed, and products inconsistent, many scientists have hope that cannabidiol can help dogs and other furry patients suffering from arthritis, allergies and even anxiety.
A13-year-old Norwich terrier, previously limping and stiff, able to enjoy walks again. A toy poodle with epilepsy, finally relieved from seizures. In case reports, these and other dogs had their ailments eased with CBD — cannabidiol — after scant success with conventional treatments.
Evidence is growing that CBD, a non-psychoactive ingredient of cannabis, is potentially effective in treating various pet maladies, from pain and itching to seizures, says Chie Mogi, lead veterinarian of the Animal CBD Research Society in Japan, who has reported such cases in veterinary publications.
The positive reports also extend to more rigorous trials with placebos. “This was exciting to me because, quite honestly, I was worried that, despite the hype, it wouldn’t show a difference when studied more objectively,” says veterinary neurologist Stephanie McGrath of Colorado State University, coauthor of a review of CBD for dogs and cats in the 2023 Annual Review of Animal Biosciences.
Though the evidence for effectiveness is still mixed, and pet owners and researchers must contend with inconsistent ingredients, many scientists have hope that CBD can expand the therapeutic options for furry patients.
The CBD boom follows relaxed cannabis regulations over the past decade that opened the door both for the cannabis industry and research. In 2018, the US Farm Bill legalized hemp containing 0.3 percent or less THC (tetrahydrocannabinol, the cannabinoid mainly responsible for marijuana’s high). Companies could now sell products consistent with that guideline, including supplements containing CBD. Since then, hemp pet products have proliferated, and the global market is expected to hit $3.05 billion by 2025.
Although CBD does not create a high, it does interact with numerous receptors in the brain, providing a rationale for therapeutic effects. Plus, CBD is processed more slowly in dogs and cats than in people, making any effects last longer, says Cornell University veterinarian Joseph Wakshlag, who also serves as the chief medical officer for ElleVet Sciences, a pet CBD company. Surveys suggest many owners have tried treating pets with CBD, mostly for issues related to pain, sleep, anxiety and seizures.
Only recently have a few states passed laws explicitly allowing veterinarians to recommend CBD products, leaving prescription of hemp products a gray legal area in other parts of the country. Although many vets remain skeptical, recent research has shown benefits for specific conditions.
Two 12-week clinical trials, totaling 30 dogs, reported that CBD eased symptoms of epilepsy, picking up the slack in cases where other drugs haven’t adequately helped. In both trials, dogs that were already taking anti-seizure medication were dosed twice daily with CBD — one study with 2 milligrams per kilogram of body weight, the other 2.5 milligrams. Compared with placebo treatments in which dogs received only the regular medicine, CBD-dosed dogs, on average, experienced about 30 percent fewer seizures over the course of the trial.
Some dogs and cats are very itchy, seemingly allergic to the world, and sometimes even veterinary diets and medications don’t make much impact. In one 2021 study, 24 kenneled shelter dogs were dosed with up to 4.5 milligrams (per kilogram of body weight) of CBD daily for three weeks. The canines wore activity monitors on their collars that logged how long they spent walking, running, shaking their head, scratching and resting. The study reported that dogs given CBD scratched up to 50 percent less, though some of the results did not reach statistical significance.
Another report documented reduced skin redness and hair loss in eight dogs with atopic dermatitis, or chronic skin irritation. Cannabinoids may be able to protect against inflammatory responses in the skin — and thus itchiness, other research has suggested.
Some studies have reported a benefit in arthritic dogs, though the results are mixed. In one paper, 16 dogs with osteoarthritis were given CBD oil twice a day for four weeks. At two weeks and four weeks, owners responded to surveys about their dog’s pain and activity levels. Compared with a placebo treatment, owners reported greater decreases in their pets’ pain, alongside increases in activity, while taking CBD. In one measurement, a subjective rating scale with a maximum score of 40, pain ratings went down from an average of 21 to an average of 14. “Dogs that jump in the car again … they climb the stairs, they jump on the bed — all these things are what the owners notice,” says Wakshlag, a coauthor on the paper.
But another pain study reported no improvement in arthritis in 23 CBD-dosed dogs. In this report, the researchers relied on veterinary assessments of mobility, which included having the dogs walk on a treadmill-like device that measured the force of their paws — making it possible to detect subtle differences in gait, such as reduced limping.
Credit: Enecta – Cannabis extracts
Testing CBD’s effectiveness in calming pets has also produced mixed results. In a 2020 study during which 16 dogs listened to an audio track of fireworks, CBD showed no effect on signs of stress such as blood cortisol levels and tail-tucking. But in a more recent study, dogs taking CBD showed fewer stress signs on car trips, including lowered cortisol and less frequent lip-licking and whining.
Conflicting results don’t necessarily mean that CBD is ineffective. For one thing, every measurement method and protocol has limitations, says Pernille Holst, a veterinary oncologist at the University of Copenhagen. Doses used in studies also vary widely — in the car-trip study, for example, dogs received doses nearly three times higher than did dogs in the firework-noise study.
Even the chemistry of the hemp product used may make a difference, says Wakshlag. Full-spectrum hemp extracts that contain cannabinoids in acid forms may act differently than do CBD isolates.
More research could clear up these questions and also help fill in the CBD picture for cats, for which research is especially scarce. But large-scale clinical trials are not cheap, and pet CBD companies don’t have the same resources as human pharmaceutical companies, says animal science researcher David Harmon of the University of Kentucky, who coauthored the firework-noise study. “There’s no conglomerate with large capital to accomplish these things,” he says.
Further complicating matters for owners is the fact that pet cannabis companies have little oversight and sometimes produce questionable products. In one study of 29 hemp products, more than half were outside the advertised range of CBD by 10 percent or more. In four products, researchers detected heavy-metal contamination. “I wish there was more oversight and regulation to ensure the labels match the product, but currently there is not,” says McGrath.
Kris Paige, a retired veterinary technician, enrolled her dog Purdy in a Colorado State University clinical trial for CBD treatment after the Anatolian shepherd began having grand mal seizures about every three weeks. Over the six-month trial, Paige observed Purdy’s seizure frequency go down — albeit not as much as she’d hoped — to an average of one every four weeks. These days, she no longer gives Purdy hemp oil daily but only after a seizure, which appears to lessen the dog’s confusion and anxiety.
Paige is glad Purdy participated in the research. “While the results weren’t what we were hoping for,” she says, “it added to the knowledge.”
Knowable Magazine, a new digital magazine from Annual Reviews. (PRNewsfoto/Annual Reviews)
