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Canadian Muslims welcomed the start of Ramadan on Wednesday, and for the first time in roughly two decades, the entire holy month will fall in winter. With Canada’s 1.8 million Muslims following the lunar calendar, Ramadan shifts earlier each year. “This year, it is coming earlier in winter time after a long time,” said Noor Al Henedy, spokesperson for Edmonton’s Al Rashid Mosque.

Shorter days mean shorter fasts, something Al Henedy admits will make the month feel different. “Fasting for me is going to be much more pleasant,” she said with a laugh. “It’ll be easier for my kids, because they’ll be less antsy.”

Ramadan centres on fasting from dawn to dusk, acts of charity, and deep spiritual reflection. It is also a time of gathering. Al Rashid, Canada’s first mosque, sees up to 5,000 worshippers a day in the opening stretch of the month. Families cook together, eat together and stand shoulder to shoulder in prayer.

The mosque is planning its annual “A Taste of Ramadan” in March, offering halal burgers and hot dogs in partnership with local non profits. The goal is to welcome the wider community. “Celebrating, breaking bread with others and charity are a large component of the holy month,” Al Henedy said.

That tradition has deep roots in Canada. When Muslims first arrived in Alberta in the late 1800s and early 1900s, they were a small community. They invited neighbours to join them during Ramadan, and eventually, with help from a Ukrainian builder and Edmonton’s mayor, constructed Al Rashid in 1938. The original building now sits at Fort Edmonton Park. “The women … really led the efforts back then when they were starting to build the first mosque … and that created an opportunity for interfaith exchange,” she said. “We are very proud of that story.”

Edmonton’s Muslim population has since grown to about 100,000, bringing new traditions with it. Several mosques now broadcast the sunset call to prayer, the Azaan, during Ramadan. The sound, familiar across Muslim majority countries, was prohibited by noise bylaws until 2021, when exceptions were granted. For many youth, hearing it is a first. For elders, it is a wave of memory. “It’s like a (throwback) experience,” Al Henedy said. “It’s really helped the Muslim community carry forth the pride in our faith … and really help us be very unapologetic about who we are.”

But Ramadan in Canada also brings challenges. Sikander Hashmi, executive director of the Canadian Council of Imams, said increased security has become routine. “There’s of course haters, Islamophobes who don’t like the presence of Muslims, that are a primary threat, and can sometimes create challenges,” he said. Incidents have included attempted vehicle attacks, slurs, stones thrown at windows and physical injuries. “At mosques across the country, there’s definitely been a lot of investments in security infrastructure, especially with federal and provincial funding, in recent years,” he said.

Still, communities continue to gather, give and celebrate. In Edmonton, the city will light the High Level Bridge on March 20 for Eid, the festival marking the end of Ramadan. “These actions reflect the city’s commitment to recognizing the diversity of Edmonton and supporting meaningful connections with the communities we serve,” city spokeswoman Rae Thygesen said.

For many families, this winter Ramadan will be both familiar and new, a reminder of faith rooted in tradition and shaped by the place they now call home.

Canadian Muslims See First Winter Ramadan In 20 Years, a Season Of Reflection, Community And Change

Good News Network

SeaWorld Orlando’s rescue team raced into action on February 9 after getting word that a manatee was trapped inside a storm drain and unable to escape. When crews arrived, they found a juvenile male wedged inside the system, completely exhausted and struggling.

To reach him, rescuers had to break through concrete and dig through several feet of soil until they could access the baffle box where he was stuck. Officials believe the manatee likely swam into the drain seeking warmer water during a recent cold snap.

The operation lasted several hours before the 410 pound animal was safely lifted out and transported to SeaWorld’s manatee rescue and rehabilitation center. The facility rescued 56 manatees last year, and this young male is already their seventh of the new year.

Once at the center, veterinarians discovered he was significantly underweight and had skin lesions consistent with scraping against the concrete walls while trying to free himself. Three days later, the team shared encouraging news. The manatee was breathing on his own, moving independently and showing interest in food.

“Our animal care team is awaiting lab results, which will guide the care plan for this manatee and next steps,” SeaWorld Orlando told GNN. “[Our] goal is always to stabilize and rehabilitate rescued manatees so they can ultimately be returned to the wild once deemed healthy and stable by the Zoo teams.”

The rescued animal is a West Indian manatee, a species with two recognized subspecies, the Florida manatee and the Antillean manatee. For now, this one is on the mend, thanks to the people who refused to leave him trapped and alone underground.

A Manatee Rescued From a Florida Storm Drain by SeaWorld is Showing Signs of Recovery

A 17th-century Swedish Navy ship that spent four centuries underwater in central Stockholm is now visible in broad daylight, thanks to unusually low Baltic Sea levels. Since early February, wooden planks from the ship’s remarkably preserved hull have been poking through the surface off the island of Kastellholmen, revealing the vessel’s skeletal outline.

“We have a shipwreck here, which was sunk on purpose by the Swedish Navy,” said marine archaeologist Jim Hansson of Stockholm’s Vrak – Museum of Wrecks. Experts believe the vessel served in the navy before being deliberately scuttled around 1640 to form part of a bridge foundation. It is one of five similar ships placed side by side in the same area for the construction project.

“This is a solution, instead of using new wood, you can use the hull itself, which is oak,” Hansson said. The Baltic’s unique conditions have helped preserve it. “We don’t have shipworm here in the Baltic that eats the wood, so it lasts, as you see, for 400 years.”

Parts of the wreck appeared briefly in 2013, but never at this scale. Hansson said the visibility is a direct result of Baltic Sea levels dropping to their lowest point in roughly a century. “There has been a really long period of high pressure here around our area in the Nordics. So the water from the Baltic has been pushed out to the North Sea and the Atlantic,” he explained.

The ship has not yet been definitively identified. Archaeologists are working through “the Lost Navy,” a research program aimed at cataloging and dating the many Swedish naval wrecks scattered across the Baltic seafloor.

The region has become a hotspot for discoveries. In April 2024, researchers found artifacts, including a weapons chest and pieces of armor on an ancient wreck off the Swedish coast. Three months later, divers uncovered a trove of champagne and wine aboard another Baltic wreck, though the government later declared the cargo off limits. And in 2022, maritime archaeologists announced the discovery of the long-lost sister ship of the Vasa, the famed 17th-century warship that now stands on display in Stockholm after being raised from the depths in the 1960s.

For now, Kastellholmen’s newly exposed wreck offers a rare, fleeting glimpse into centuries of naval history, brought to the surface by a shift in the sea itself.

This Historic Naval Shipwreck Just Emerged in Sweden After 400 Years Underwater

GoodGoodGood

More than 300 million people around the world can’t afford shoes, yet in the United States alone, more than 300 million pairs are thrown away every year. Once they reach a landfill, those sneakers can take decades to break down, slowly leaking dyes and adhesives into soil and groundwater.

“Most people throw away their athletic shoes and sneakers after 8-12 months of wear without ever considering recycling them,” the global recycling program Sneakers4Good wrote in its mission statement. “Since sneakers are not biodegradable, this can have drastic consequences for the environment.”

To meet both the environmental and humanitarian need, Sneakers4Good created a national recycling effort that collects gently used shoes and redirects them to people who can use them. “Our Sneakers4Good program was built for the running community with sustainability in mind,” the organization stated. “It’s a way for runners to give their sneakers a second life and give back to their community. We work specifically with marathons like St. Jude & Boston Marathon, running clubs, gyms, tennis and pickleball facilities, and run specialty stores across the country.”

Over the past decade, the program has expanded far beyond the U.S. The shoes are now part of an international network that supports small businesses in more than 20 developing countries. Recycled sneakers end up in shacks, stalls, and shops operated by over 4,000 families across Haiti, Cambodia, Guatemala and other regions, creating income for shop owners while keeping usable shoes out of landfills.

Luba Designs Tech, a business partner since 2018, said the program makes a difference both locally and globally. “As a small store, [we] welcome the opportunity to put back into our local community … as well as feeling we are part of a bigger world mission of lifting up individuals in other countries.”

It is a simple idea, but one with wide reach. Every pair kept out of the trash is one less source of pollution and one more opportunity for someone who needs sturdy footwear to work, travel, or go to school.

This Innovative Recycling Program is Turning America’s Discarded Shoes Into a Global Opportunity

Scientific American

A chance hike in the Italian Alps has revealed one of the richest collections of Triassic era dinosaur tracks ever found. Last September, photographer Elio Della Ferrera was in the Fraele Valley of Stelvio National Park when he spotted what looked like enormous footprints running straight up vertical rock faces. Thousands of them.

Some prints measure up to 40 centimeters, and early analysis shows they date back roughly 210 million years. The discovery stunned paleontologists. “It took me a few seconds to realize the photos were real,” said Cristiano Dal Sasso of the Natural History Museum of Milan, who is leading the investigation. “Now we can go back in time and study the evolution of dinosaurs in this place.”

In their preliminary study, Dal Sasso’s team determined the tracks were made by herds of large herbivores, most likely prosauropods, the ancestors of the later giant sauropods such as Brontosaurus. At the time these animals crossed the site, the landscape would have been muddy tidal flats on the edge of the ancient Tethys Ocean. The Alps had not yet risen, so the footprints were horizontal when they formed. Plate tectonics later tilted the rock layers upright, leaving the tracks climbing the cliffs.

Scientists have named the site “Triassic Park,” but studying it will not be simple. The tracks sit on steep, remote terrain that is difficult and risky to reach. Dal Sasso said the research team will rely heavily on drones and remote sensing to document the prints and create detailed digital models for future study.

For paleontologists, the discovery opens a rare window into a moment when dinosaurs were beginning to flourish. And for anyone else picturing herds of early giants marching across ancient tidal flats, it is a reminder of how much history can be hiding in plain sight, waiting for the right person to look up.

A Photographer Just Discovered Thousands Of Dinosaur Footprints High In The Italian Alps

Positive.News

Three young innovators in Ohio have taken a surprisingly simple cue from the ocean to fix a growing problem coming from our own homes. Each time a synthetic garment goes through the wash, it can shed up to 1.5 million fibres. Researchers say household laundry is now the biggest source of microplastics entering rivers and oceans.

That irony was not lost on a group of Case Western Reserve University students who set out to rethink how laundry filters work. Existing filters clog easily, which means many people stop using them. So the team studied manta rays, whose cone shaped mouths create swirling currents that pull in plankton without getting jammed. They built a device that mimics that design.

The result is the Vortx filter. Instead of collecting fibres on a flat screen, it traps them inside tiny rotating vortices and funnels them into a small disposable pod. The team says this method is 300 percent more effective than traditional filters.

CEO Max Pennington and co founders Chip Miller and David Dillman have since launched a startup called Cleanr to bring the device to market. Their filter sits on top of a standard washing machine and sells in the US for $359. It is not cheap, and disposable pods raise their own environmental questions, but Pennington hopes the momentum will push manufacturers and lawmakers toward a bigger shift.

“Legislators are starting to realise that we really need to cut this off at the source,” he said. Six US states, including Pennsylvania, Oregon and California, are already discussing rules that would require microfibre filters in new washing machines.

The idea that began with watching manta rays now sits at the intersection of engineering, policy, and everyday life. And it shows how a small change, multiplied across millions of loads of laundry, could make a measurable difference for the oceans the inventors looked to for inspiration.

Inspired By Manta Rays, Young Inventors Create A Filter To Capture Microplastics From Laundry

BBC News

Two unexpected visitors shuffled into The Grand Care Home in West Bridgford, and they were an instant hit. Pringle and Widget, a pair of Humboldt penguins, arrived ready to be petted, held, and admired as part of an animal-assisted therapy session for residents.

The birds quickly became the center of the room. Residents reached out to stroke their smooth feathers, surprised by how calm the penguins were in their arms. “It was very comfortable and never murmured, so it was quite nice. I enjoyed it,” said 89-year-old Les Clarkstone.

Pringle and Widget live at Heythrop Zoological Gardens in Oxfordshire, a privately owned zoo focused on animal welfare education. The penguins regularly travel to care homes and hospices around the country to bring comfort to people who may not otherwise get close to wildlife.

Their handler, 21-year-old head bird keeper Luke Fillary, guided residents on how to gently interact with the birds. He said both penguins have spent their entire lives preparing for days like this. “They both have been born at our zoo, so they have been in training their whole life,” he said. “Officially, they have been doing it for the past six years. Both are very well behaved.”

For families, the visit offered something special to share. Jackie Kirkham came from Clifton to join her 91-year-old father, Derek. “It’s just something new for them, something that they probably won’t be doing,” she said. “He enjoys it, and we do; it’s comforting.”

The Grand Care Home has welcomed all kinds of therapy animals over the years. Dogs are common, but residents have also met donkeys, ponies, ducks, and chickens. Penguins felt like a natural next step for wellbeing coordinator Bridget Peck. “I think animals play an important role for everybody’s wellbeing,” she said. “Not just dogs, we have donkeys, ponies, every Easter we have the ducks and chickens come in. So, penguins, why not? It was great.”

For a few hours, the home was filled with laughter, feathers, and wide smiles. Pringle and Widget did exactly what therapy animals do best. They made the day brighter.

Therapy Penguins Pringle And Widget are Delighting Residents At This UK Care Home

Fox News

Nearly two years after the chocolate muffin took over the Paris Games, a new dessert is pulling focus in Milan. Athletes are lining up for a molten lava cake served in the Olympic Village, locally known as tortino al cioccolato or tortino cuore fondente, and social media has turned it into the event’s latest obsession.

The frenzy feels familiar. In 2024, Norwegian swimmer Henrik Christiansen became the “Muffin Man” after falling hard for the Village’s gooey chocolate muffin. This time, the spotlight shifted when Canadian speed skater Courtney Sarault posted a video showing off the lava cake. It has already racked up more than 3 million views.

“THIS is the Olympic Games content we have been waiting for!” one TikToker wrote. Another person joked, “I should have tried harder at sports.”

Sarault’s video also caught an admission from another athlete watching nearby. “I eat that every morning,” he said, without a hint of hesitation.

The reviews kept coming. Natalie Spooner, a Canadian ice hockey player, posted her own rating and gave the dessert a 9.1 out of 10. “This is what I’ve been waiting for,” she said in her TikTok review. “It’s gooey. It’s chocolatey. The middle is delicious.”

Viewers were just as invested. “When you scooped that piece, I just KNEW it was gonna be good,” one person commented. Another wrote, “Looks better than the Paris muffin.”

The hype does not surprise New York bakery owner Danielle Sepsy. She was one of the people who helped launch the 2024 Olympic muffin into viral territory, and she sees the same pattern with this year’s treat. Both desserts “have a somewhat molten ganache center,” she told Fox News Digital, and both are “super rich” in chocolate. “The muffin has a fluffier texture, whereas the lava cake is pleasantly dense.”

The muffin craze became so intense that Sepsy added it to her bakery’s menu in 2024. It is still there.

As for the new lava cake trend, she says home bakers have plenty of ways to make their own version. She suggests a ganache made from spreads like peanut butter, Nutella, or tahini. Those spreads “mixed with a little powdered sugar and butter [create] a delicious and unique molten center,” she said.

Part of the appeal, Sepsy believes, comes from seeing elite athletes enjoy something indulgent. “Any molten center will stop you in your tracks, but I think there is something really human and relatable about the world’s best athletes indulging in these calorie dense treats,” she said. “They’re just like us sort of.”

And just like that, the torch has officially passed from muffin to lava cake.

Olympians are Indulging In This Viral Chocolate Lava Cake, Even For Breakfast

Kare11 NBC

The math of dogs and people rarely feels fair, and Wayne Chmelik lives with that imbalance every day. His Great Dane, Hulu, keeps close by his side, a little slower now and showing more grey than before. Wayne looks at him and quietly admits, “That’s going to be hard. That’s going to be difficult.”

Hulu’s absence will be felt far beyond Wayne’s yard. At CentraCare St. Cloud Hospital, Hulu has become part of the rhythm of the hallways. His size draws reactions before he even gets close. A visitor stops mid-stride and blurts, “You’re like a little horse.” Someone else follows with, “You look like a miniature donkey.” Hulu collects comparisons the way most therapy dogs collect pats on the head.

For Leah Anderson, his impact runs deeper. Leah is a mom from Clearwater carrying twin boys who tried to arrive far too soon. She has been in the hospital for almost four weeks. She watches Hulu settle beside her and says the visits “bring me joy and happiness.” The loneliness lifts, even if only for a moment.

Wayne wishes those moments could stretch on forever. But Great Danes age fast. Their life expectancy tops out around 8 to 10 years. “He'll be 8 in April,” Wayne says, his voice dipping as he considers what is coming. Last year, Hulu’s sister Tootsie, another familiar face at the hospital, died of cancer. Wayne looks down at Hulu asleep by his feet and says, “I don't know who took it harder, me or him.”

The changes have been hard to ignore. Hulu has dropped from 82 kilograms to about 70. Wayne realized he could not wait any longer to begin preparing someone new. So he walked into the Paynesville Health Care Center with a Great Dane puppy at the end of his leash.

“This is Wren,” he says, introducing Tootsie’s granddaughter. “She weighed 23 pounds at 8 weeks, and now she’s 123, a puppy at 12 months.” She moves through the nursing home halls with the curiosity of a young dog still learning her size. Residents reach for her as if she has been visiting for years. Carol Heitke holds Wren’s snout, presses a kiss to her forehead, and says, “I love you.”

Wayne watches closely. “When a dog and a person do this, it’s called a lock,” he says. “Nobody else in the room but those two right now.”

The nursing home is familiar ground for Wayne. Staff there cared for his wife, Pat, in memory care. He used to bring Tootsie and Hulu to visit her. “She would say, ‘My babies are here,’” nursing assistant Kathy Olson says. “She loved her puppies.” Before she loved Wayne, Pat loved Great Danes. She competed with them in shows and later convinced Wayne to bring the dogs into his life, too.

Now Wayne brings Hulu and Wren into places where people need comfort, just as he once brought them to Pat. And though the dogs help others, Wayne is quick to admit the truth. “They have been my island, they have been my safe space,” he says. “They’re my therapy.”

At the hospital cafeteria, Wayne buys Hulu a cup of ice cream. “This is his reward for being such a good dog,” he says. Hulu eats most of it, with enough splattered on the floor that a kitchen worker kindly steps in to mop. Wayne laughs softly and lets the moment linger.

He knows these visits will end one day, quickly or quietly, so he treats each one as something he does not want to forget. His hope is simple. He wants enough time for Wren to learn from Hulu, and enough chances to give her the experience she needs. “The more experiences that I can give her, the greater the chance that she’s going to be a good therapy dog,” he says.

He says it with the confidence of someone who has already learned from the best.

Great Dane Trains to Replace Beloved Therapy Dog Hulu at St. Cloud Hospital

Science Alert

A lifelong habit of reading, writing and learning new languages may be one of the strongest tools we have to keep the mind sharp. A new study from Rush University Medical Center says those activities could reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease by as much as 38 percent and lower the risk of mild cognitive impairment by up to 36 percent.

Researchers followed 1,939 adults with an average starting age of 80 for almost eight years. They built a “cognitive enrichment” score based on book reading, visiting libraries and museums, learning languages and even using dictionaries. Then they compared the people with the highest enrichment scores to those with the lowest.

“Our study looked at cognitive enrichment from childhood to later life, focusing on activities and resources that stimulate the mind,” neuropsychologist Andrea Zammit said. “Our findings suggest that cognitive health in later life is strongly influenced by lifelong exposure to intellectually stimulating environments.”

Participants were asked to recall their habits at age 12, age 40 and their current age. The more reading and language exposure they reported across their lifetime, the larger the benefit. On average, high enrichment delayed Alzheimer’s by five years and delayed mild cognitive impairment by seven years.

Researchers also examined brain tissue from participants who died during the study. They found indications that people with richer childhood learning environments showed a degree of protection against the buildup of proteins commonly associated with Alzheimer’s.

Because socioeconomic status can shape access to books, schools and learning resources, the team checked whether SES explained the results. It did not. “Our findings indicate that cognitive enrichment is not simply a proxy for socioeconomic advantage,” the researchers wrote. Enrichment scores captured long term intellectual engagement beyond what SES alone could predict.

The study does not prove that reading or language learning directly prevents dementia. Memory based reporting has limitations, and brain health depends on many factors, including sleep and physical activity. Still, the link between mental stimulation and long term cognitive resilience has appeared in many studies, whether the activity is reading, solving puzzles or picking up new skills.

Researchers say one message is unmistakable. It is never too early, or too late, to build habits that support the brain. Zammit put it this way: “Our findings are encouraging, suggesting that consistently engaging in a variety of mentally stimulating activities throughout life may make a difference in cognition. Public investments that expand access to enriching environments, like libraries and early education programs designed to spark a lifelong love of learning, may help reduce the incidence of dementia.”

The study appears in the journal Neurology.

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