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A Gift For GNN Viewers Who Don’t Like Ads: Members Can Now Turn Them Off

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Just in time for the holidays, we have some good news for readers who’ve complained about advertising on our website.

We just added a feature that allows all our Members to enjoy our stories AD-FREE!

Anyone can become a Member with a payment of just $2 for one month. You can pay what you want, too, with other options like $15.00 for one year. Check out your choices here on the Membership page.

We also have GIFT Memberships for $15 / year that you can give to friends or family in need of positivity.

Already A Member?

Current members need to be logged-in with their GNN username and password for the ads to disappear. (It’s the same login that you used to buy the membership).

We have already been offering an ad-free subscription option in our APP for years. So, I’m thrilled that we can now offer an ad-free experience on both platforms.

A special thanks to all the GNN Members in the ‘President’s Club’ who have contributed $500 to our ongoing mission. Enjoy your ad-free good news!

– Happy Holidays from The GNN Team!

Astro-Photographer Reveals a Cosmic Grinch in a Holiday-Themed Star Cluster 

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X-ray ranges by NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical image by M ichael Clow –Image Processing by NASA/CXC/SAO/ L. Frattare and K. Arcand
X-ray ranges by NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical image by Michael Clow –Image Processing by NASA/CXC/SAO/ L. Frattare and K. Arcand

Just in time for the holidays, a new version of the so-called “Christmas tree cluster” shows a green-tinged image of young stars that resembles the grumpy Grinch character.

The Grinchy Christmas tree cluster, named NGC 2264, is a group of young stars between one and five million years old. (For comparison, the Sun is a middle-aged star about 5 billion years old—1,000 times older.)

It’s about 2,500 light-years from Earth, and astro-photographer Michael Clow captured optical data (in the green and violet range) from his telescope in Arizona last month.

The new image combines data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, too (from the red, purple, blue, and white ranges).

The wispy green clouds in a conical shape have resembled an evergreen tree, thus the nickname of Christmas tree cluster. But with this latest view, people are loving the image because it conjures the Grinch quite readily.

It’s a festive example of pareidolia—seeing figures in the clouds or in faces staring back from the knotty pine walls of a cabin decorated for Christmas.

DON’T STEAL CHRISTMAS: Share The Grinchy Fun With Friends On Social Media…

ANOTHER SPACE ODDITY: Spiders From Mars? Phenomenon Evokes David Bowie Song in  Photos Taken Near South Pole of Red Planet

CNN’s Hero of the Year Founded a Dog Foster Program For Owners Who are Recovering Addicts Going to Rehab

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2024 CNN Hero of the Year Stephen Knight - CNN
2024 CNN Hero of the Year Stephen Knight – CNN

A former addict who started a nonprofit to foster pets when their owners are seeking substance abuse treatment was named the 2024 CNN Hero of the Year.

Stephen Knight will receive over $100,000 to continue his life-changing work.

His Texas organization Dogs Matter covers pet care expenses for the foster family and provides post-release services to help human participants succeed with their sobriety.

Accepting the award, Knight said:  “This means everything. I represent so much here: I represent the recovery community, the dog rescue community…This is going to be able to take us to the next level.”

In 2011, at the age of 51, Stephen had lost everything to meth addiction—his family, his job, his home, and nearly his life.

HIV positive, and living out of his car, Knight entered rehab at the behest of his mother—but it was a face-to-face meeting with a little dog that changed his life.

CNN described it this way: “After months of treatment, and at a delicate time in his recovery, a friend showed up at his door in tears. She had relapsed, and in her arms was her beloved dog, Jayde.

“Knight’s friend said no one would take Jayde, and she asked Knight for a ride to a shelter so she could surrender her.”

Knight told CNN, “I looked at Jayde, and we looked at each other.”

“It was one of the most spiritual moments, like ‘I think we might need each other here.’”

Stephen Knight – CNN

Knight realized that some addicts were delaying or forgoing treatment because they could not find suitable housing for their pets—and in 2015 Dogs Matter became a registered nonprofit.

As Knight approaches 14 years sober, his organization has helped more than 1,200 dogs and their owners.

“This means everything. I represent so much here. I represent the recovery community (and) the dog rescue community,” he said during his surprise win at the 2024 CNN awards gala in early December (see below). “This is going to be able to take us to the next level.”

The public can donate via GoFundMe to any of the 5 semi-finalist winners through January 5, 2025, thanks to a partnership with the Elevate Prize Foundation which will match every contribution dollar for dollar, up to $50,000 per hero. So far, over $120,000 has been raised (and the amount will double for the Heroes).

Watch Stephen’s story below—and find more information on the four other Heroes, at CNNHeroes.com.

SHARE THE HEARTWARMING STORY With Pet Lovers On Social Media…

A Wrong Number to a Top-Secret Military Phone Led to NORAD Santa Tracker With Millions of Fans Worldwide

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NORAD’s Santa Tracking team – by SM Sgt Thomas Doscher
NORAD’s Santa Tracking team – by SM Sgt. Thomas Doscher

By Brad Aronson, author of the book HumanKind: Changing the World One Small Act At a Time

The official Santa Tracker that has been delighting families worldwide for seven decades got its unlikely start when a child accidentally called the telephone number of a top-secret Pentagon hotline responsible for alerting the military of any attack on North America.

In December 1955, one year after President Eisenhower established the hotline, the red phone rang at the Continental Air Defense Command, now known as NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command). The country was in the middle of the Cold War, tensions were high, and the number was for emergency use only.

When Commanding Officer Colonel Harry Shoup answered, he heard a squeaky voice asking, “Is this Santa Claus?”

Shoup thought it was a prank and responded accordingly, until the boy started crying.

Realizing it wasn’t a joke, Shoup, a father of four, played Santa and then spoke to the mom, who told him the number was in a holiday ad for the Sears department store. The number printed in the advertisement was one digit off from what Sears intended to print.

Who knows if Shoup saw the humor at the time, but the ad said: “Call me on my private phone and I will talk to you personally any time, day or night…Kiddies be sure to dial the correct number.”

The kids kept calling and Shoup put two airmen on phone duty to answer the phone as Santa.

“It got to be a big joke at the command center,” Shoup’s daughter Terri Van Keuren said. “You know, ‘The old man’s really flipped his lid this time. We’re answering Santa calls’.”

There was a giant board used to track airplanes and on Christmas Eve some of the staff added a sleigh with reindeer on it. When Shoup saw it, they apologized and offered to remove it, but he thought the sleigh was great.

“And next thing you know, Dad had called a radio station and said, ‘This is the commander at the Combat Alert Center, and we have an unidentified flying object. Why, it looks like a sleigh’.

The radio stations started calling him every hour asking, ‘Where’s Santa now?’

That’s how NORAD’s Santa tracking tradition began, and it’s grown annually for 69 years. They started issuing a press release on Christmas Eve that appeared in media around the country announcing that they were tracking a red sleigh that was inbound from the North Pole. In the 1960s, NORAD mailed vinyl records to radio stations with prerecorded updates on Santa’s progress. In the 1970s, they broadcasted updates on TV.

XMAS TRADITIONS CONFIRMED:
• Face of Real St. Nicholas Reconstructed with 3D Tech Shows He Did Look Like Santa Claus
• The Original Secret Santa Started it All by Paying Back Kindness Shown While He was Homeless

Every year, more than 1,250 volunteers—both military and civilian—answered the flood of calls and emails to the Santa Tracker from around the world. Volunteering has become a family tradition, and, in some cases, three generations have been participating. Shoup’s daughter Terri is among them.

The Santa Tracking website is available in nine languages, and on Christmas Eve (December 24), you can telephone NORAD for updates directly at +1 (877) HI-NORAD.

Truly in the 21st century now, they even have a free app and families can use Amazon’s Alexa service to ask for updates.

Colonel Shoup, who died in 2009, served in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War; he received a Soldier’s Medal for saving the life of another airman.

He also kept letters that kids had sent to him about Santa inside his locked briefcase—and his daughter believes it may have been the thing he was proudest of.

SPREAD THE WHIMSY In Time For Christmas Eve By Sharing This On Social Media… 

For more positivity check out Brad Aronson’s book HumanKind: Changing the World One Small Act At a Time.

Revolutionary Infertility Treatment Uses Tiny ‘Robots’ to Clear a Pathway in Clogged Tubes

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SIAT / AIP Advances
SIAT / AIP Advances

Tens of millions of people worldwide affected by infertility due to fallopian tube obstruction may soon benefit from a tiny robotic screw capable of clearing the pathway.

Researchers at the Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology (SIAT) developed the innovative solution using a magnetically driven robotic microscrew to treat fallopian tube blockages.

“This new technology offers a potentially less invasive alternative to the traditional surgical methods currently used to clear tubal obstructions—which often involve the use of conventional catheters and guidewires,” said author Haifeng Xu in the study published in AIP Advances.

The microrobot is made from nonmagnetic photosensitive resin, coated with a thin iron layer to give it magnetic properties. By applying an external magnetic field, the robot rotates, generating translational motion that enables it to navigate through a glass channel made to simulate a fallopian tube.

The robot successfully clears the cell cluster obstruction placed in the channel, mimicking a typical blockage in the female reproductive system. This magnetic control provides precise navigation through the delicate and narrow structures of the fallopian tube.

The design of the microrobot is another key innovation for the team working in SIAT’s Magnetic Soft Microrobots Lab. It has a screw-shaped body with a helical structure, a cylindrical central tube, and a disk-shaped tail.

RELATED: Cure for Pre-Eclampsia is On Horizon as Researcher Discovers Lipid Nanoparticle to Deliver Directly to Placenta

The helix-shaped structure is crucial for propulsion, while the disk-shaped tail helps stabilize the robot’s motion. As the screw rotates, it generates a vortex field that helps push fragmented debris toward the tail, clearing the blockage more effectively.

In tests, the microrobot demonstrated both effectiveness and efficiency in clearing the simulated blockage, with the vortex created by the rotating screw propelling debris away from the obstruction.

Looking to the future, the research team plans to make the microrobot smaller and more advanced. They also aim to test the robot in isolated organ models and incorporate in vivo imaging systems to track the microrobot’s movement and position in real time.

The team also envisions expanding the robot’s applications in surgery, including automatic control systems that could enhance the efficiency of blockage removal and other medical procedures.

AMAZING BODY: First Remarkable Mapping of Limb Development Shows Stages of Creating the Human Hand Masterpiece

“The ultimate goal is to provide a more effective, minimally invasive solution for patients suffering from infertility,” said Xu.

SHARE THE AMAZING INNOVATION On Social Media…

“Each time you love, love as deeply as if it were forever.” – Audre Lorde

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Quote of the Day: “Each time you love, love as deeply as if it were forever.” – Audre Lorde

Photo by: hillary peralta (cropped)

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

Good News in History, December 22

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164 years ago today, Giacomo Puccini was born. Considered as the greatest composer of Italian opera in history alongside or perhaps just behind Verdi, his work includes many of the most-performed spectacles in Italian opera, including La Boheme, Tosca, Turandot, and Madame Butterfly. Often regarded as a romanticist who honored 18th-century Italian tradition, Puccini would go on to incorporate different themes and mechanisms into his music, not least of which was the Chinese motifs in Turandot. READ more… (1858)

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Another Study Shows Incredible Results of Pairing Solar Panels With Agriculture: ‘Getting more from the land’

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Credit; Sheffield University
Credit; Sheffield University

Another study has shown that combining solar panels with agriculture can significantly boost crop yields, while conserving water and generating renewable energy for areas vulnerable to climate change, a new study has shown.

Research led by the University of Sheffield reveals that ‘agrivoltaics’—the practice of using the same land for farming and producing solar electricity—leads to greater crop yields with less water, compared to crops grown in open fields.

The international team, which included the University of Arizona, along with the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF), found certain crops, such as maize, Swiss chard and beans, thrived under the partial shade provided by solar panels.

The shade helped to reduce water loss through evaporation, while additionally using the rainwater harvested from the panels to supplement irrigation needs.

“Imagine a future where farms are powered by clean energy and crops are more resilient to climate change,” said senior author of the study, Professor Sue Hartley from the University of Sheffield’s School of Biosciences and Vice-President for Research and Innovation.

“Agrivoltaics can make this vision a reality by offering a sustainable solution to the pressing challenges of food insecurity, water scarcity, and energy.”

“By shading crops with solar panels, we created a microclimate that helped certain crops produce more, but they were also better able to survive heat waves—and the shade helped conserve water, which is crucial in a region severely threatened by climate change.”

Beyond increased crop yields and water conservation, the study showed agrivoltaics can also provide a reliable source of clean energy for rural communities. Off-grid solar power systems can power homes, businesses, and agricultural equipment, improving the quality of life for many.

Additionally, vegetation growing underneath a solar panel has been shown in multiple studies to keep the panel cooler, thereby allowing it to generate electricity more efficiently.

RELATED: Experts Demonstrate How Solar Farms Can Become Hubs for ‘Biodiversity Enhancement’ at Every Level

“By combining solar panels and farming, we were able to get more from the land,” said lead author of the study, Dr. Richard Randle-Boggis, who conducted the research and is now a research scientist at SINTEF.

“This multifunctional approach shows the potential to boost food production and clean electricity generation while reducing the need for irrigation.”

Check out a planning guide entitled: Better Biodiversity on Solar Farms, that shows how solar farms, often criticized as land-hogging eyesores, can be set up in a way that not only makes room for native biodiversity, but contributes actively to its flourishing.

SHARE THE TIP WITH LOCAL FARMERS On Social Media…

UK’s ‘Most Festive Pub’ Illuminated Giant Snowman and Tree With 3,600 Empty Wine Bottles

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The Queen Victoria Inn in Somerset, England – SWNS
The Queen Victoria Inn in Somerset, England – SWNS

People have been flocking to Britain’s ‘most festive pub’ to see their newest seasonal creation—a 26-foot snowman made from 2,500 empty wine bottles.

The Queen Victoria Inn in Somerset, England, began hosting Christmas lights displays a decade ago, as a way to raise money for charity.

This year the popular pub also features a huge wreath on the side of the building, a two story structure covered in 55,000 white lights collected over the years, which stretches over 9 miles (15km) long.

The new snowman is made from a huge steel structure supporting the empty wine bottles collected by the pub and other restaurants in the area.

“We are a little pub in the middle of nowhere and it puts us on the map,” said the owner, Mark Walton. “It brings so many visitors—it is absolutely mental.

“It has been in the top 10 Christmas decorations on MSN News and things like that and we just laugh at it.”

“We just walk past it and think nothing of it and then you see people coming in and they are like ‘wow’.”

The Queen Victoria Inn in Somerset decorated with empty pub bottles –SWNS

The thousands of lights will be switched on each day at 4pm (through 9pm)—until New Year’s Eve. (Watch the video below…)

WOW! Narnia Themed Treehouse Built Next to C.S. Lewis’ Home Features Magic Wardrobe–Now it’s a Holiday Rental

The 57-year-old estimates that over the years he’s spent around $50,000 for the display and energy bills.

“All the bulbs are energy efficient—even the spotlights, so it does not go up as much as people think, luckily.

“It adds up but it does ok and the charity does really well out of it,” he told SWNS News.

Christmas snowman made of over 1,000 empty pub bottles – SWNS

In the past five years, the display has raised more than £25,000 ($31k) for a local hospice—the Children’s Hospice South West. This year, he hopes to raise over £5,000.

“It is a good time to remember that some people are not having such a great Christmas and the hospice does so much to support the families and the children.”

Along with cash placed in donation boxes, many of the contributions come from the internet, via their Just Giving page.

HOLIDAY SURPRISE: Christmas Miracle As Dying Donkey is Rescued and Given Shelter–Then, Surprise Birth in Stable

As part of their fundraising for the hospice, the pub also hosted an annual Santa run on December 15.

Watch the video below, and to make a donation visit their JustGiving page…

SHARE THE IDEA With Wine Lovers and Bar Owners On Social Media…

Parents Love the Confidence That Kids Get from Playing With Their Favorite Toys

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Credit: Mick Haupt – public domain
Credit: Mick Haupt – public domain

During the best time of year to give children toys comes a new poll that shows four in five parents confirmed their child is happier, more social, and confident in themselves when they play with their favorite toy or doll.

The survey of 2,000 U.S. parents of school-aged kids found that 63% believe if their kid plays with toys or dolls early in life, they’ll have an easier time fostering new friendships later in life.

7 in 10 parents reported their kids play with dolls and action figure—and they have “many” or “a fair amount” of friends—according to the survey commissioned by doll brand Rainbow High and conducted by Talker Research.

On the question of what makes kids confident, 60% of parents agreed that confidence is defined through a sense of self and forming strong friendships.

The study also looked into what parents want their kids to learn or discover while playing with their toys. The most important was learning “how to socialize” (50%). That was followed by problem-solving (43%), finding personal interests (41%) and communicating with peers (40%).

Interestingly, less than one-third of parents named academic skills as being a comparable. They showed a stronger interest in instilling social and emotional values.

“For kids, the holidays are all about play, and are a crucial time for their self-growth,” said Dr. Sheryl Ziegler, a Clinical Psychologist and Play Therapist. “The ability to play helps kids navigate their world and sense of self.”

Nearly two in three parents (64%) actively seek out toys or dolls that represent different unique personalities or interests for their kid.

On-screen characters have an impact on what toys and dolls kids want to play with. Nearly half (46%) of parents say their child often or always plays with toys or dolls based on characters from TV shows or YouTube—and 91% said their kids reenact the scenes with their toys, dolls, and imagination.

After all, there must be millions of adults who remember donning a cape when they were young, thinking about their favorite super hero.

When asked what they’d like their children to take away from what they watch shows, half of parents named problem-solving as the number one takeaway. Other important takeaways included discovering their personal interests (41%) and building confidence (40%).

TOP 7 WAYS KIDS EXPRESS THEIR SELF CONFIDENCE

– Trying new things – 53%
– Making friends easily – 51%
– Sharing their accomplishments and/or ideas with friends/family – 51%
– Identifying and explaining their feelings and interests – 46%
– Using their imagination while playing – 43%
– Showcasing personal style (clothes, accessories, hair styles, etc) – 42%
– Greeting new people – 37%

Your First Horoscope For 2025 – ‘Free Will Astrology’ by Rob Brezsny

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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 December 21, 2024
Copyright by Rob Brezsny, FreeWillAstrology.com

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
One of my paramount wishes for you in 2025 is this: You will deepen your devotion to taking good care of yourself. You will study and learn more about the sweet secrets to keeping yourself in prime mental and physical health. I’m not suggesting you have been remiss about this sacred work in the past. But I am saying that this will be a favorable time to boost your knowledge to new heights about what precisely keeps your body and emotions in top shape. The creative repertoire of self-care that you cultivate in the coming months will serve you well for the rest of your long life.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
To fulfill your life mission, to do what you came here to earth to do, you must carry out many tasks. One of the most important is to offer your love with hearty ingenuity. What are the best ways to do that? Where should you direct your generous care and compassion? And which recipients of your blessings are likely to reciprocate in ways that are meaningful to you? While Jupiter is cruising through Gemini, as it is now and until June 2025, life will send you rich and useful answers to these questions. Be alert!

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
Mysteries of the past will be extra responsive to your investigations in 2025. Persistent riddles from your life’s earlier years may be solvable. I encourage you to be aggressive in collecting previously inaccessible legacies. Track down missing heirlooms and family secrets. Just assume that ancestors and dead relatives have more to offer you than ever before. If you have been curious about your genealogy, the coming months will be a good time to explore it. I wish you happy hunting as you search for the blessings of yesteryear—and figure out how to use them in the present.

ARIES (March 21-April 19):
If you worked eight hours per day, seven days a week, it would take you 300 years to count to the number one billion. I don’t recommend you try that. I also discourage you from pursuing any other trivial tasks that have zero power to advance your long-term dreams. In a similar spirit, I will ask you to phase out minor longings that distract you from your major longings. Please, Aries, I also beg you to shed frivolous obsessions that waste energy you should instead devote to passionate fascinations. The counsel I’m offering here is always applicable, of course, but you especially need to heed it in the coming months.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
In 1951, minister and author Norman Vincent Peale was working on a new book. As he wrote, he would regularly read passages to his wife, Ruth. She liked it a lot, but he was far less confident in its worth. After a while, he got so discouraged he threw the manuscript in the trash. Unbeknownst to him, Ruth retrieved it and stealthily showed it to her husband’s publisher, who loved it. The book went on to sell five million copies. Its title? The Power of Positive Thinking. I hope that in 2025, you will benefit from at least one equivalent to Ruth in your life, Taurus. Two or three would be even better. You need big boosters and fervent supporters. If you don’t have any, go round them up.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
I love how colorfully the creek next to my house expresses itself. As high tide approaches, it flows south. When low tide is on its way, it flows north. The variety of its colors is infinite, with every shade and blend of green, grey, blue, and brown. It’s never the same shape. Its curves and width are constantly shifting. Among the birds that enhance its beauty are mallards, sandpipers, herons, grebes, egrets, and cormorants. This magnificent body of water has been a fascinating and delightful teacher for me. One of my wishes for you in 2025, Gemini, is that you will commune regularly with equally inspiring phenomena. I also predict you will do just that. Extra beauty should be on your agenda!

CANCER (June 21-July 22):
Just 81 billionaires have half of the world’s wealth. Even worse, they are usually taxed the least. That’s hard to believe. I also wonder if many of us non-billionaires have milder versions of this issue. Are there a few parts of me that get most of the goodies that my life provides, while other parts of me get scant attention and nourishment? The answer is yes. For example, the part of me that loves to be a creative artist receives much of my enthusiasm, while the part of me that enjoys socializing gets little juice. How about you, Cancerian? I suggest you explore this theme in the coming weeks and months. Take steps to achieve greater parity between the parts of you that get all they need and the parts of you that don’t.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
Anthropologist Robin Dunbar theorizes that most of us have limits to our social connections. Typically, our closest circle includes five loved ones. We may also have 15 good friends, 50 fond allies, 150 meaningful contacts, and 1500 people we know. If you are interested in expanding any of these spheres, Leo, the coming months will be an excellent time to do so. In addition, or as an alternative, you might also choose to focus on deepening the relationships you have with existing companions and confederates.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
Uncle Tom’s Cabin was the best-selling novel of the 19th century. It was written by a Virgo, Harriet Beecher Stowe. Her story about the enslavement of African Americans in the US was not only popular. It awakened many people to the intimate horrors of the calamity—and ultimately played a key role in energizing the abolitionist movement. I believe you are potentially capable of achieving your own version of that dual success in the coming months. You could generate accomplishments that are personally gratifying even as they perform a good service for the world.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
According to my reading of the astrological omens, you will be teased with an abundance of invitations to grow in 2025. You will be encouraged to add to your current skills and expertise. You will be nudged to expand your understanding of what exactly you are doing here on planet Earth. That’s not all, Libra! You will be pushed to dissolve shrunken expectations, transcend limitations, and learn many new lessons. Here’s my question: Will you respond with full heart and open mind to all these possibilities? Or will you sometimes neglect and avoid them? I dare you to embrace every challenge that interests you.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
Scorpio-born Rudolf Karel was a 20th-century Czech composer who created 17 major works, including symphonies and operas. His work was interrupted when Nazi Germany invaded and occupied his homeland. He joined the Czech resistance, but was eventually arrested and confined to Pankrác Prison. There he managed to compose a fairy-tale opera, Three Hairs of the Wise Old Man. No musical instruments were available in jail, of course, so he worked entirely in his imagination and wrote down the score using toilet paper and charcoal. I firmly believe you will not be incarcerated like Karel in the coming months, Scorpio. But you may have to be extra resourceful and resilient as you find ways to carry out your best work. I have faith that you can do it!

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
What is the perfect gift I could offer you this holiday season? I have decided on a large square black box with nothing inside. There would be a gold ribbon around it bearing the words, “The Fruitful Treasure of Pregnant Emptiness.” With this mysterious blessing, I would be fondly urging you to purge your soul of expectations and assumptions as you cruise into 2025. I would be giving you the message, “May you nurture a freewheeling voracity for novel adventures and fresh experiences.”

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

(Zodiac images by Numerologysign.com, CC license)

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

“There is nothing new in the world except the history you do not know.” – President Harry S. Truman

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By Gilles Bens

Quote of the Day: “There is nothing new in the world except the history you do not know.” – U.S. President Harry S. Truman

Photo by: Paul Gauguin painting (cropped)

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 Gilles Bens

Good News in History, December 21

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NPS / Jacob W. Frank

Today is the magical Winter Solstice, bringing the longest night of the year to the Northern Hemisphere, and marking the start of more daylight every day for the rest of the season, until June 20. The ancient cultures knew the Sun’s path across the sky, length of daylight, and location of the sunrise and sunset, which shifted in a regular way throughout the year, so people built monuments, like Stonehenge in England and the Torreon in Machu Picchu, Peru, to follow the Sun’s annual progress and predict its movements. READ more from on this day… 

NPS / Jacob W. Frank
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The Nex Game Console Is Perfect for Kids Whose Parents Have Concerns About Traditional Gaming

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Andy Corbley
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The Nex Playground console's basketball game. Nex
The Nex Playground console’s basketball game – credit: Nex, released.

Need a late gift idea? A new video game console is flying off the shelves by offering an alternative to parents worried about gaming’s effects on their children.

With no in-app purchases, violence, or online interactions, and all available titles accessible immediately through an annual subscription, the Nex Playground addresses every concern a parent might have.

For more than 30 years, the Nintendo consoles, the Sony Playstation, and the Microsoft Xbox have ruled the console gaming space. The only alternative of any marketable value since the collapse of Sega and Atari consoles has been PC gaming, but given that the Nex Playground has sold 100,000 consoles when pre-order was limited to just 5,000, it’s fair to say there’s a new kid on the console block.

Reminiscent of the Nintendo Wii, all the games on the Nex Playground involve body motion capture, such as sport movements, dancing, or pretending to cut pieces of fruit in half in the introductory title Fruit Ninja.

Again, on the theme of addressing parents’ concerns with gaming, this aspect of the Nex addresses both video game addiction and lack of exercise; you can’t play a game for five hours if it is moderately exhausting.

Reviewers writing for Business Insider got a hold of the console, and report that their kids of all ages loved it. They sent the consoles back to prevent a conflict of interest.

At the moment, Nex features more than 40 games, all of which are available for a subscription of $89 a year. This may seem a major hangup for the “subscription fatigue” in the modern consumer, but it’s actually much less than most parents will spend on different titles, each of which will cost between $40 and $70, in a single year.

GAMING HELPED THIS KID WRITE A FICTION BOOK: High Schooler Self-Publishes Fantasy Novel Over Lockdowns as Break From Video Games-Gets Orders Worldwide

Some of the most popular games in the world are actually free, but come heavily monetized through an in-game currency that can be earned through playing, or that can be purchased directly with a card. The Nex Playground features none of this in-app purchasing, nor is there any open access online interactions between a child and the rest of the gaming world.

GNN has reported often on the links between gaming and positive mental development (or at least lack of negative influence). It’s been shown in studies that homework grades remained unaffected by a preteen’s gaming habit, even if it extended past 3 hours; and that video gaming was associated with higher IQ in children compared to social media use and watching television.

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It’s also been shown that massively multiplayer online video gaming tends to be associated with greater levels of teamwork and problem solving in adult employees.

However, the phenomenon of modern gaming and everything that is attached and associated with it, really can’t be measured in a single study. Sitting, excess screen time, overvaluing digital tokens, and influence of negative interactions online are all things which may in some broad sense be bad for a child’s wellbeing, but which happen to all be absent from the Nex Playground experience.

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

By
Andy Corbley
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Tagging an Asian giant 'murder' hornet - credit: Washington Dept of Agriculture CC 2.0.
Tagging an Asian giant ‘murder’ hornet – credit: Washington Dept of Agriculture CC 2.0.

The American infestation of so-called ‘murder hornets’ has been cleared and the species eradicated from these shores thanks to an all-hands-on-deck effort.

First detected in British Colombia in the summer of 2019, the Asian giant hornet moved down into Washington where they quickly gained a reputation for painful, dangerous stings and the ability to wipe out honeybee colonies in minutes.

The Washington and U.S. Departments of Agriculture announced the eradication Wednesday, with the last confirmed sightings of the world’s largest hornet coming in 2021. Officials insist they will “remain vigilant” for holdouts.

“I’ve gotta tell you, as an entomologist—I’ve been doing this for over 25 years now, and it is a rare day when the humans actually get to win one against the insects,” Sven Spichiger, pest program manager of the Washington State Department of Agriculture, told a virtual news conference according to AP. 

The eradication couldn’t have been accomplished without the hard work of state residents, who for months diligently reported sightings. Others agreed to keep traps in their yards. Scientists employed a strategy often used on isolated island ecosystems to track invasive animals back to their haunts.

Known sometimes as the ‘Judas’ strategy, referring to the Biblical character, small radio transmitters were tied to the legs of three murder hornets, who then became spies all unknowingly and led the researchers back to their nest.

Officials arrived and destroyed the nest just as several queens were starting to emerge from the brood.

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These hornets deliver 7-times more venom than a honeybee, and can sting multiple times straight through the fabric of a beekeeping suit.

The nickname ‘murder’ hornet was applied from instances in China where these hornets are native. They had killed 42 people in a single year, but the real risk they pose is less towards humans and more towards pollinators. A swarm of Asian giant hornets can kill and eat a whole honeybee colony in 90 minutes.

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They may have arrived in North America aboard shipping containers, or in flower pots, but despite one unconfirmed sighting, no hornets have been seen in three years. That sighting was alleged in Kitsap County, where entomologists are still keeping lookout on behalf of residents; human and honeybee alike.

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Nigerian Authorities Seize 2 Tons of Pangolin Scales and Arrest Key Broker in Major Wildlife Trafficking Bust

By
Andy Corbley
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credit - Wildlife Justice Commission, released.
credit – Wildlife Justice Commission, released.

In early December, a major anti-trafficking operation resulted in the arrest of a suspected pangolin scale broker and the seizure of over 2 metric tons of pangolin scales.

Representing approximately 1,100 pangolins, the seizure is a significant blow to transnational wildlife trafficking networks operating in Nigeria, where the bust was carried out.

Acting on intelligence from the Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC), officers from the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) arrested the suspect, believed to be part of a network involved in the supply of vast quantities of pangolin scales to trafficking networks based in Lagos, on December 5th.

The seizure marks the third NCS-WJC pangolin scale operation in 2024 and the fourth in Nigeria this year.

The NCS-WJC partnership has profoundly disrupted wildlife trafficking in Nigeria, demonstrable by the absence of any reported significant seizures of pangolin scales at any seaport globally for over two years.

Pangolins are the world’s most trafficked animal. These relatives of the anteater can climb trees and dig burrows with their claws. They are cloaked in hard scales from head to toe to tail, and as a defense strategy will curl up in a ball which can deter even large predators.

Their scales are bought by traditional pharmacists, who wrongly believe they have various medicinal properties in much the same way as rhino horn which is coveted for the same reason. Both the scales and the horn are made of keratin, the same protein found in bird feathers, scales on various reptiles, and in our nails and hair.

The NCS-WJC collaboration, now concluding its third year, has resulted in 16 operations, 35 arrests, 12 convictions, and the seizure of 21,582 metric tons of pangolin scales and 1.065 tons of elephant ivory since July 2021.

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The seizure and arrest of the suspected broker of the stockpile are anticipated to deliver immediate, multi-level disruption to trafficking networks within Nigeria.

“This operation underscores the unwavering commitment of Nigerian authorities to combat wildlife crime and protect endangered species. We extend our heartfelt congratulations to the NCS for their exemplary efforts and dedication,” said Olivia Swaak-Goldman, Executive Director of the WJC.

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“The scale of this seizure and the arrest of a key broker send a powerful message that Nigeria is resolute in its fight against wildlife trafficking.”

The NCS-WJC partnership has focused on strengthening law enforcement efforts, increasing risks for traffickers, and crippling Lagos-based criminal networks involved in ivory and pangolin scale trafficking.

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Face of Real St. Nicholas Reconstructed with 3D Tech Shows He Did Look Like Santa Claus

By
Andy Corbley
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Saint Nicholas of Myra, the original Santa Claus – Courtesy Cicero Moraes
Saint Nicholas of Myra, the original Santa Claus – Courtesy Cicero Moraes

In one of the more fascinating pieces of Christmas news you’ll read this year, scientists studying the skull of the real man who became St. Nicholas, found that his facial proportions match pretty well with those described in Twas the Night Before Christmas. 

With the help of 3D digital facial reconstruction, often used in archaeology to render ancient skulls, the scientists were able to produce an image of ‘Old Saint Nick’ as he would have really looked to his followers.

The grey faces were purely statistical generations – Courtesy Cicero Moraes

“Saint Nicholas of Myra or Saint Nicholas of Bari, had Greek ancestry and would have come from Patara, Asia Minor (present-day Turkey), in the Roman Empire, where he would have been born in the second half of the third century (between 250 and 270), and died between the years 335 and 370,” the author, Cicero Moraes, wrote in a study on the digital rendering.

Among the early Christian sects, scholars write that Saint Nicholas had one of the most widespread followings. It’s easy to see why—the strong yet gentle face, paired with Nicholas of Myra’s reputation for gift-giving, would have been a welcome sight to the downtrodden of the Roman Empire.

The gift-giving inspired the Dutch folk hero Sinterklaas, who merged with the English ‘Father Christmas’ who was known for feasting, not gift-giving, to create the Santa Claus/Saint Nicholas we know today.

With the beard, the digitally rendered appearance is remarkably like that recounted in the 1823 poem, Twas the Night Before Christmas, described as the most well-known verses ever penned by an American.

Generally attributed to Clement Clarke Moore, his description of Saint Nicholas is of a “broad face” with merry dimples, “cheeks like roses and a nose like a cherry,” all above a “droll little mouth, tied up like a bow.”

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Moraes and his team must have been surprised when they saw the final rendering, as it was well-matched with the poem. Perhaps the biggest difference is Santa Claus’ cherry-like nose. Saint Nicholas of Myra had an asymmetrical nose that bent to his right.

In the study, one can read how precise forensic analysis was used to reconstruct the face from the skull, but also how another bone belonging to St. Nicholas was found to have a higher mineral density than bones of a similar 70-year-old today, indicating a natural robustness, and supporting the rendering’s depiction of a stock, broad head and face.

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Statistical proportioning, anatomic principles, tomography, and historical sources all went into creating the faces, which were rendered in grey through pure mathematics, and in color, hair, and clothes according to an AI that adjusted the base model to add in the skin-deep characteristics of a 70-year-old.

The result is the spitting image of the first depiction of Santa Claus, from a 1863 issue of Harper’s Weekly Magazine in the USA.

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“Wisdom outweighs any wealth.” – Sophocles

By
Good News Network
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Quote of the Day: “Wisdom outweighs any wealth.” – Sophocles

Photo by: Josh Hild

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

Good News in History, December 20

By
Good News Network
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21 years ago today, Gangs of New York premiered in theaters. Martin Scorsese’s colorful and gritty depiction of gangland violence among the poor immigrant residents of New York City’s Five Points received 10 Academy Award nominations. While winning none, Daniel Day Lewis’ mesmeric portrayal of street gang leader Bill the Butcher won him several other awards. Grossing nearly $200 million worldwide, the project had taken Scorsese nearly 20 years to develop after reading a book called Gangs of New York: An Informal History of the Underworld. READ more… (2002)

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Little Boy Beats Odds to Walk Mom Down Aisle Thanks to Special Harness – (WATCH)

By
Andy Corbley
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credit - SWNS
credit – SWNS

There “wasn’t a dry eye in the house” as a little boy took his first steps down the aisle at his mom’s wedding.

But it wasn’t the sight of him in his cute outfit, or his beaming smile that broke the tissue barrier, rather it was because of the special harness he had used to train himself for the occasion.

credit – SWNS

10-year-old Frankie Penfold was born with SUCLA-2 mitochondrial depletion syndrome, an inherited genetic disorder which affects the early development of the brain.

Symptoms include being mildly deaf, not being able to hold his head up, and not being able to walk, and eventually his parents Hannah and Tom were told by doctors he wouldn’t live past his teenage years.

Hannah admits it was “really heartbreaking” and that her relationship with Frankie suffered from barriers.

“I’d never heard of mitochondrial disease,” Hannah told the British news media outlet, SWNS. “It was really heartbreaking, and something I’ll never get over.”

In his earliest months, he was diagnosed with hearing loss, but then Frankie started to miss developmental milestones like lifting his head and sitting up. A battery of tests dragged on, leading to the diagnosis of SUCRA-2 just before his first birthday.

Tests also revealed that both Tom and Hannah had faulty gene copies which Frankie had inherited. The couple were told their son would never be able to sit up, hold his head up, crawl or walk, and he was only expected to live until his teenage years.

“It was massively eye-opening,” said Hannah. “As much as you try to live a normal life, there are barriers up, all the time.”

Eventually though, she and Frankie set a goal of walking down the aisle together at her marriage to Tom, with whom she already had two children.

CHLIDREN OVERCOMING THE ODDS:

He began having sessions on different physiotherapy machines at Gympanzees—a physical education organization for disabled kids based in Bristol. His favorite was a machine called the Upsy, which helps him stand upright, keep his head up and walk, aided by an adult.

“Frankie literally got in it, stood up for the first time—and his eyes just beamed,” his mother remembered.

Frankie spent five years training on the Upsy, and on Hannah and Tom’s wedding day, he was able to walk his mom down the aisle, followed by Penelope and Teddy, his older sister and brother.

“He worked so hard, and on my wedding day in 2023, he managed to do it,” Hannah said. “Frankie wasn’t nervous—he’s such a people person. I can’t put into words how much it went.”

“There wasn’t a dry eye in the house—I’ll never forget that moment, for the rest of my life. People were smiling and crying and clapping the whole time,” she recalled. “It felt like each of those clips were precious memories—the achievement of what Frankie was doing was so much.”

WATCH the magic moment below… 

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