Goodable

In Livingston Texas, coach Heather Mosser started a program that paired her varsity softball athletes with students who have disabilities. They exercised and trained together for months. This is what happened when she brought the students onto the field to throw the opening pitch. Want more videos like this? Follow us on YouTube and Twitter @Goodable. Tap the share button to send this inspiring story to a friend.

In Livingston Texas, coach Heather Mosser started a program that paired her varsity softball athletes with students who have disabilities.
They exercised and trained together for months.
This is what happened when she brought the students onto the field to throw the opening pitch.

WATCH: These Texas High School Softball Players Help Students With Disabilities Throw The Opening Pitch

Sunny Skyz

While most people celebrate turning 80 with cake and candles, Betty Kellenberger marked hers with a backpack and hiking boots — and by breaking a record.

The Michigan native just became the oldest woman ever to complete the entire Appalachian Trail, a staggering 3,500-kilometre trek that stretches across 14 U.S. states and involves an elevation gain equal to climbing Mount Everest 16 times.

“You see incredible parts of our country, things that you wouldn’t see otherwise,” Kellenberger said. “So much wildlife. It’s just gorgeous.”

She grew up on a farm in Howell, Michigan, where she first learned about the trail. For decades, she dreamed of hiking it from Georgia to Maine. But the time commitment — about six months — never quite fit. Then, with no spouse or children and nothing holding her back, she decided 2024 was the year to try.

What followed was the adventure of a lifetime.

Kellenberger's trek wasn’t without setbacks. She faced dehydration, a concussion from a fall, and even contracted Lyme disease. At one point, Hurricane Helene forced her off the trail entirely as it swept through the eastern U.S., pausing her hike near the Virginia border.

Still, she pressed on.

Kellenberger rerouted north in the spring of 2025 and tackled some of the trail’s most difficult terrain through New England — enduring slick rocks, steep climbs, and unpredictable weather until the very end.

As she got closer to finishing, other hikers started to take notice. She was on track to beat the record previously held by Linda Vanderloop, who completed the trail at age 74 in 2024.

But for Kellenberger, the journey was never about records.

“You hike alone, and so you have your thoughts and you have time, and you have, you know, the presence of God and all that magnificent scenery,” she told WOOD. “But it’s the people you meet. It’s the shuttlers. It’s the folks that were hiking with you... it’s experience. It’s a love.”

Reaching the end came with a flood of emotions.

“So you’re a basket case,” she laughed. “You have so many emotions because you’re excited about finishing. I was really looking forward to saying, ‘I am done.’ But you also know you’re going to miss this big time. You’re not going to have what you have out on that trail. That peace, the serenity.”

She said the hardest parts were also the most rewarding: Maine and New Hampshire, with their rugged mountains and unpredictable terrain. But by the end of it all, Kellenberger said she felt stronger than ever.

“Now I’m in the best shape of my life,” she said.

Reflecting on the hike, she offered some advice for anyone thinking about taking on something big.

“This life is a journey. And it may be a series of little journeys. Or maybe just the whole life is a journey,” she said. “And the bigger your efforts, the greater the reward.”

For Betty Kellenberger, that reward came with every step, every sunrise, and finally, the finish line.

80-Year-Old Woman Who Conquered The Appalachian Trail Just Set a New Record

A conservation project in central Poland has reached a promising milestone: every single one of the 50 European pond turtles raised last year in captivity has survived.

Biologists at the University of Łódź, in partnership with the Łódź Orientarium Zoo and regional institutions, announced the success this week as part of their long-term effort to restore the country’s only native turtle species, which is believed to be extinct in the Łódź region.

“In the wild, only about 1% of hatchlings survive due to predators,” the university’s biology department said in a Facebook post. “Bigger equals safer. Breeding allows the young to grow larger, which dramatically increases their chances of survival once released into the wild.”

The project, which aims to reintroduce roughly 150 turtles into protected parks in Łódź province over the next few years, takes hatchlings from Poland’s Polesie National Park — home to the country’s largest population of European pond turtles, estimated at around 1,500 — and raises them in specially designed indoor enclosures for their first three years.

Those enclosures simulate natural conditions while protecting the young turtles from threats such as foxes and raccoons. The turtles are exposed to seasonal temperatures, natural sunlight and UVB rays, and must forage for food on their own — all to keep their survival instincts sharp.

“The European pond turtle has disappeared from our region mainly due to human activity – wetland drainage, pollution and predation,” the department of biology said. “Now, by joining forces, we have a chance to reverse this trend.”

Two cohorts of 50 turtles were brought to the zoo in September 2024 and September 2025. The first group, now one year into the three-year rearing process, has shown excellent results.

“The turtles have grown significantly and are in excellent condition,” the university reported.

Once widespread across central Poland, the European pond turtle has been in steep decline for decades due to habitat loss, water contamination, and invasive predators. The species has been under strict protection in Poland since 1935 but continues to face the threat of extinction.

Now, with controlled rearing giving the turtles a fighting chance, conservationists are hopeful that self-sustaining wild populations can one day return to the region.

The reintroduction plan focuses on two landscape parks in Łódź province, where researchers believe conditions are suitable for the turtles to eventually thrive without human support.

“It’s a major step,” the university said. “We’re not just helping a species survive. We’re working to bring it home.”

Researchers Make Progress In Effort To Boost Poland’s Only Native Turtle Species

When a trumpet sounds on the corner of Dauphine and Toulouse, everything stops. Traffic yields. Heads turn. What starts as a solemn hymn — maybe “Just a Closer Walk with Thee” — soon rises into something joyful, even defiant. This is a second line parade, one of New Orleans’ most powerful traditions: a moment of public mourning that transforms into celebration, sorrow lifted by rhythm.

Here, grief marches side by side with joy. And always, always with a brass band leading the way.

Second lines are part funeral procession, part block party. The term “second line” refers to the people who follow behind the musicians — dancers, friends, and onlookers drawn into the moment. But these parades don’t only mark funerals. They happen at weddings, birthdays, holidays, and anytime the city decides something is worth remembering or honoring.

At the center of it all are the brass musicians, decked out in pressed white shirts and black pants, wielding trombones, sousaphones, and snares. They’re not just playing music. They’re carrying tradition.

“If you grow up here, the African drumbeats, the dancing, which goes back to slavery and to Congo Square, that stuff is in our DNA,” says Roger Lewis, 83, a founding member of the world-renowned Dirty Dozen Brass Band.

Formed in 1972 out of a church marching band, Dirty Dozen helped change the sound and shape of brass music. They’ve toured five continents and shared stages with legends from Dizzy Gillespie to Elvis Costello, yet they still play small shows in New Orleans warehouses for a few dollars at the door.

That’s how it is here.

As jazz legend Ellis Marsalis once said, “In New Orleans, culture doesn’t come down from on high. It bubbles up from the streets.” And brass music is very much street-born.

Its origins trace back to the late 1800s, when military instruments and African rhythms merged. Social Aid and Pleasure Clubs — groups that once offered financial support to newly freed slaves — began hiring bands to play at funerals and parades. Over time, brass music soaked in gospel, bebop, funk, and eventually, hip-hop.

“We played the same, traditional songs, but we picked that beat up. I mean up,” says Lewis. “I used to say, ‘Wear tennis shoes and your jogging suit. You may lose 40 pounds parading with us.’”

That energy shaped the next generation. In the early ’80s, high schoolers in the Tremé neighborhood — too young to play in clubs — took their sound to the streets. That group became the Rebirth Brass Band, now a Grammy-winning act that still plays weekly shows in town.

“I think, in terms of sound, we continued what the Dirty Dozen set down,” says Keith Frazier, Rebirth’s bass drummer. “Hip-hop and jazz and reggae… with these instruments, you can do anything.”

Neighborhoods shaped the music too.

“Uptown guys play it a little faster. The Tremé loves a more traditional set, whereas New Orleans East has a hip-hop fan base,” Frazier explains. “I’m from the Upper Ninth Ward, which is kind of traditional mixed with modern. I think that’s the beauty of brass music. It’s never one thing, or even one part of the city.”

But for decades, brass bands were mostly male.

That’s changing, slowly.

Christie Jourdain leads The Original Pinettes — the first all-female brass band in New Orleans, founded in 1991. “I came out of the ’80s/MTV generation,” she says. “I was listening to Peter Gabriel and Prince rather than the traditionals or Gospel.” With the help of a high school band director, the Pinettes carved out space in a male-dominated scene.

“At first people called us ‘cute,’” Jourdain remembers. “Then we’d kick the doors down when we played.”

In 2013, they beat out several male bands at a citywide Red Bull competition, forcing organizers to rename the event from “Street Kings” to “Street Queens.”

Their success paved the way for newer acts like Bra’s Band, another all-women group formed in 2021.

“I got a request to put together an all-ladies brass group for the Krewe of Boheme Mardi Gras parade,” says Bra’s Band leader Maude Caillat. “It wasn’t easy. There aren’t enough women playing brass.” Today, her group includes about 15 women, though only a handful play each gig — a common practice in New Orleans where musicians juggle multiple bands, jobs, and obligations.

“French Quarter Fest is my favorite,” says Jourdain. “They recruit homegrown talent and pay well. I wish others would do the same. We all have second jobs now. That’s why a seven-piece band might have 12 members, so people can schedule around work. The pay is something we need to address as a city. Because what is New Orleans without brass music?”

It’s a fair question. One few locals want to answer.

Ron Rona, former artistic director at the historic Preservation Hall, says it best: “Many brass bands emerge from high school marching band relationships... these musicians often end up knowing their bandmates for much of their lives. Then, whether organically or formally, many serve as musical mentors to the kids coming up. It’s cyclical and familial, and that’s not something too many other cities can claim.”

In New Orleans, that cycle plays out daily. A young couple might be getting married right now, just a few blocks from Congo Square. The trumpet player from Kinfolk might look at the bride and say, “You ready?”

She’ll nod, lift her parasol, and step into the street. Behind her: a century of tradition, joy, rhythm, and grief — and a brass band that won’t let the music stop.

In New Orleans, Brass Bands Don’t Just Play Music — They Carry a City’s Soul

Perched on a sheer cliff 300 meters above a forested valley in northeast Turkey, the Sümela Monastery looks more like a movie backdrop than a real place. But this 4th-century site, carved into the mountainside of the Pontic Alps, has not only survived the rise and fall of empires — it’s now undergoing a modern revival that’s bringing both tourists and pilgrims back in droves.

Located an hour’s drive from Trabzon, the monastery complex includes chapels, living quarters, a bell tower, and a sacred spring, all clinging improbably to the rock face. For centuries, Sümela has been both a religious sanctuary and a symbol of resilience — first founded by early Christians along the Black Sea coast, later supported by Muslim Ottoman sultans, then abandoned, looted, and vandalized after the fall of the Ottoman Empire.

Now, thanks to an extensive and still ongoing restoration effort, the site is open again to the public, with thousands of visitors making the climb each day.

“We’ve always had a problem with falling rocks,” said Levent Alniak, manager of museums and historic sites for Trabzon province. “To prevent damage to the structures and harm to visitors, we had industrial mountain-climbers secure the cliff.” The climbers, suspended midair, installed steel cables and mesh netting to stabilize the towering rock wall above the site.

That restoration process also led to some unexpected finds. A hidden tunnel was discovered, opening into a small, previously unknown chapel. Inside, archaeologists found vivid frescoes depicting heaven, hell, and the afterlife.

Meticulous work is also being done on the site’s better-known frescoes — early Christian wall paintings that have been battered over the years by graffiti, fire, and moisture. “People wrote their names and other things across the frescos that we are trying to remove,” said Senol Aktaş, a restorer currently working on an 18th-century image of the Virgin Mary. “We paint over the graffiti with a style and colors similar to what the original artists used.”

But not all the damage was caused by careless tourists. Many of the older frescoes — especially those depicting saints and biblical figures — have had their eyes scratched out. Some blamed religious defacement. Others offered a different explanation.

“The Virgin Mary is a holy person for the Muslim people also,” said Öznur Doksöz, a guide who’s been leading visitors through Sümela since the 1980s. “So the people who live around here came and scratched their faces, especially the eyes, boiled the paint chips and drank this water thinking it would bless them. We don’t know if this story is true or not, but that’s what people say.”

The story of Sümela itself may be part legend, part history. According to tradition, two Greek monks — Barnabas and Sophronios — were drawn to the site in 386 CE after the Virgin Mary appeared to them in a vision. Guided by that vision, they found an icon of the Virgin painted by the Apostle Luke in a cave that would later become Sümela’s iconic Rock Church.

While that founding tale remains unproven, there’s no doubt the monastery was a powerful religious center by the 13th century. It thrived under the rule of the Empire of Trebizond and, later, under the Ottomans, who respected Christian institutions that remained loyal to the sultan. In fact, the Ottoman rulers granted land and donations to the monks.

“Sometimes they would change a church into a mosque, like Hagia Sophia in Istanbul,” Alniak explained. “But most of the time, they left the Christians to do their religion.”

That changed after World War I. As the Ottoman Empire collapsed, conflict broke out between Turkish and Greek communities, culminating in a 1923 population exchange. Greek Orthodox monks left Sümela behind — and with them, many of the monastery’s most treasured relics. Fearing theft, the monks buried valuable items in secret spots in the Altındere Valley. The monastery was left unguarded and quickly became a target for treasure hunters and vandals.

The most sacred object, the icon of the Virgin Mary known as Panagia Soumela, was eventually retrieved and now resides in the Nea Sumela Monastery in northern Greece. Other relics have surfaced in museums or private collections abroad.

Efforts to preserve Sümela began in the 1970s. Since then, Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism has invested heavily in turning the crumbling site into a major tourist destination. In 2010, a symbolic milestone was reached when the Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople held the first worship service at Sümela in nearly 90 years, an annual tradition that continues every August 15.

Today, Sümela is a functioning state museum. Restoration teams continue their work during the dry summer months, while visitors roam its courtyards, chapels, and hidden corners. A short documentary about the site’s restoration plays in one of the former monks’ cells.

Getting there is relatively easy. Turkish Airlines offers multiple daily flights from Istanbul to Trabzon. From the city, tour vans or rental cars can take visitors to Altındere Valley National Park. After parking, a shuttle delivers guests to a cobbled pathway that leads to the monastery’s stone steps.

Entry costs 20 euros, and visitors are advised to wear proper footwear. The weather can shift quickly, especially during rainy season or winter snowfalls.

Accommodation ranges from nearby Coşandere village’s modest Sümela Holiday Hotel to higher-end options in Trabzon like the Radisson Blu and Ramada Plaza.

But for most people, the real luxury is standing at the edge of a cliff, surrounded by centuries-old frescoes, gazing out over the Black Sea forests — and imagining what stories these ancient walls might still hold.

Visitors Flock to Sümela Monastery in Turkey as Restoration Reveals Hidden Treasures

A police officer in Jacksonville, Florida, was reunited with a warthog that he helped to rescue after it went missing.

The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said that Officer Sam Ho “used a drone to help locate a missing warthog at the Jacksonville Zoo and Botanical Gardens.”

This footage shows Ho visiting the Warthog, named Mateo, who had since fathered three piglets.

“It’s good to see Mateo’s healthy and able to, you know, fulfil life and he’s happy and roaming around eating food. He has kids now,” Ho said.

A police officer in Jacksonville, Florida, was reunited with a warthog that he helped to rescue after it went missing.The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said that Officer Sam Ho “used a drone to help locate a missing warthog at the Jacksonville Zoo and Botanical Gardens.”This footage shows Ho visiting the Warthog, named Mateo, who had since fathered three piglets.“It’s good to see Mateo’s healthy and able to, you know, fulfil life and he’s happy and roaming around eating food. He has kids now,” Ho said.

A Cop in Florida Just Reunited With the Warthog He Helped Rescue

The Cool Down

Japan has just introduced a new kind of farm machine — and it's unlike anything that's ever plowed a field before.

At the upcoming World Expo 2025 in Osaka, Kubota will showcase its hydrogen-powered, fully autonomous tractor — a high-tech, zero-emission solution to two of agriculture’s biggest problems: labor shortages and pollution.

The tractor, the first of its kind, features a 100-horsepower hydrogen fuel cell stack that can operate for 12 hours on a single refueling. It produces no carbon emissions, just water and heat, thanks to a process that combines hydrogen and oxygen to generate electricity.

But it’s not just what powers it that’s innovative. The tractor also drives itself.

Equipped with AI-powered cameras and sensors, the machine can detect people or obstacles in its path and stop automatically — no human needed behind the wheel. As long as it's within range of a remote network, it can operate entirely unmanned.

It’s an upgrade from Kubota’s previous hydrogen-powered tractor, a 60-horsepower model introduced in 2024 that required a driver and could run four hours on a 10-minute hydrogen refuel. Both versions rely on fuel cells with high-durability platinum catalysts and thinner membranes that boost efficiency and longevity.

The move comes as Japan’s farming sector faces growing pressure. Many of the country’s farmers are aging, and fewer young people are entering the profession. At the same time, traditional diesel-powered equipment contributes to climate change and local air pollution.

Kubota’s solution aims to address both issues at once. By removing the need for a human driver and switching to zero-emission fuel, the company hopes to make agriculture more efficient, sustainable, and appealing to a new generation of farmers.

“It supports the labor force while making farming more efficient and productive,” Interesting Engineering reported. Compared to battery-electric tractors, the hydrogen-powered model offers greater power and longer runtime — two features that matter in large-scale farming operations.

Isamu Kazama, a lead developer at Kubota, said the tractor’s “practical application” is still under development. But once ready, it could transform tomorrow’s farms into tech-driven, environmentally friendly operations with cleaner air, lower costs, and less time spent in the field.

In a sector long known for tradition, Kubota’s tractor is a glimpse into the future — one where machines handle the heavy lifting, and farmers manage the land with the help of clean, autonomous technology.

Japan Unveils Hydrogen-Powered Self-Driving Tractor To Revolutionize Agriculture

People

A German Shepherd named Freyja is being celebrated as a hero in New Hampshire. This remarkable dog played a key role in finding a missing 2-year-old girl who wandered off into the woods near her home on October 10. The toddler, dressed only in thin leggings and a light sweater, managed to slip out of her family's fenced yard in Dorchester after their two dogs created an opening.

The situation was dire as temperatures hovered in the single digits Celsius and were expected to drop below freezing overnight. Responding quickly, local authorities received a frantic call from the child’s mother and immediately initiated a search operation. Over 90 volunteers joined the effort to locate the little girl before nightfall brought dangerously cold conditions.

Among the volunteers was Jeremy Corson from Concord, accompanied by his trained search and rescue dog, Freyja. Jeremy has been volunteering with New England K9 Search and Rescue for 13 years, and he knew how critical it was to find the child swiftly. "Time is of the essence with a 2-year-old," Jeremy noted. The longer they are missing, the farther they can wander.

Freyja picked up a scent around 8 p.m., nearly five hours after the girl disappeared. "She’s nose-down, which is an indicator of tracking," Jeremy recalled. Navigating through dense forest where visibility was limited to just a few feet ahead, he called out to the child and heard her respond.

Jeremy found her cold and scared but unharmed in what he described as "a really rough piece of woods." He carried her back through the forest to her anxious family waiting at home. The family was overjoyed when they saw their daughter safe again. "Everyone was absolutely ecstatic," said Jeremy, describing how emotional and relieved the child's mother became upon their return.

After reuniting with her family, the toddler expressed she was ready for a bath and bedtime but was first taken to a local hospital for a thorough check-up.

Jeremy praised Freyja's impressive skills during this rescue mission. He proudly shared that she received a new ball and plenty of affection as rewards for her successful efforts.

This Hero Dog Just Rescued a Lost 2-Year-Old Girl After Hours in the Cold Woods

When George Springer crushed a pivotal home run that helped send the Toronto Blue Jays to their first World Series since 1993, the stadium erupted. But for people who stutter, it wasn’t just a sports highlight — it was a moment of powerful visibility.

Springer has spoken openly throughout his career about growing up with a stutter. In a world where athletes are often expected to deliver quick, confident soundbites, he’s quietly redefined what leadership can look — and sound — like.

“George is so open about his stutter,” said Maya Chupkov, founder of Proud Stutter, a podcast and advocacy platform. “To have someone like him be so open about stuttering, and he gives back, and he mentors young people, young athletes, who stutter. You could really tell he cares about the community.”

Chupkov started Proud Stutter after years of feeling isolated. “I didn’t see spaces where people who stutter could share their stories,” she said. “Proud Stutter grew out of a need to feel less alone — and now there’s a global community.”

Her advocacy challenges the idea that fluency should be the end goal. “There is no cure for stuttering,” she said. “A lot of stories I hear are people who get told their whole life that fluency is the goal, and fixing stuttering. And so there’s just a lot of shame when you’re not able to stop stuttering… That’s just how we were born and how our brain is wired.”

That’s why Springer’s presence in the spotlight means so much to her. Unlike other narratives that frame stuttering as something to “overcome,” Springer embraces his as part of who he is.

“What I love about George Springer’s story is that he says it’s OK to stutter and he owns it,” Chupkov said. “The thing that I see a lot happen is people who stutter talk about ‘overcoming their stutter.’ But through my over 100 interviews with people who stutter from all over the world, some of that is just because people have become better at masking their stutter… George Springer doesn’t do that.”

She also sees sports as a unique space where people who stutter can thrive. “Sports is a really safe space, I think, for people who stutter to be able to communicate in a way where maybe they don’t have to think about their stutter as hard,” she said. “Because really the focus is on the sport, and it’s a way of building community with peers.”

That was true for Ana Carolina de Jesus, a former basketball player turned filmmaker. She started playing at 13, but as the level of play became more competitive, she found herself dreading the moments when she had to speak.

“I’d get nervous for days before I had to speak,” she recalled. “I was able to be vocal on the court. But the times that my stutter was coming up on the court, I just wouldn’t speak. And so if I had to say something, and it was kind of stuck. I just let it go.”

She never met another athlete who stuttered during her playing career. “It was isolating,” she said. “I felt like I was the only one going through it. I held back because I didn’t see anyone else like me.”

Seeing Springer reach the World Series felt personal. “It makes me hopeful,” de Jesus said. “Even when you’re OK with your stutter, it’s still so tiring because we just spend so much time paying so much attention to it. It’s really nice to see him be open about it, and being on the big stage.”

Now a filmmaker, de Jesus channels that experience into her work. “As an athlete, I was very reserved,” she said. “Now, in film, I feel like it made me a better writer, a better director. I’m really good at listening, I have a lot of patience, and I’m able to connect with people. It’s easier for me to be vulnerable about my stutter in the art side.”

She believes Springer is shifting how people view capability and confidence. “Athletes are seen as strong, capable and resilient, and then having someone in there that stutters... I feel like sometimes people think that stuttering is lack of capability. George challenges that.”

That message also hits home for Kenny M’Pindou, a Canadian bobsledder with Olympic dreams for 2026.

“It challenges the idea of what confidence and leadership sound like,” he said. “You don’t need to speak perfectly to lead, to inspire, or to have a voice that people listen to.”

For M’Pindou, Springer’s performance reinforces that it’s not about flawless delivery — it’s about connection.

“It reminds people that leadership comes in different forms and that your voice matters no matter how it comes out,” he said.

He spent years avoiding the spotlight because of his speech. “For a while I let my speech stop me from speaking up or putting myself out there,” he said. “Now I’m using the same voice I used to hide to share my story, to compete, and to represent my country.”

He hopes his Olympic journey will help others who stutter feel seen.

“I want others who stutter to see they can take up space too — in sport, at school, at work, wherever they want to be.”

Chupkov agrees. “I wish people would treat stuttering more like a different way of speaking — like having an accent,” she said. “There’s nothing wrong with a person who stutters. We should be more open as a society to different forms of speaking. The more we hear George, the more films we have, the more cultural drivers we have — that’s when we’ll start to change lives.”

George Springer's World Series Home Run Meant More Than Baseball — Especially for People Who Stutter

Yahoo

In a breakthrough that could reshape how we think about farming and climate, researchers have found direct evidence that organic fertilizers don’t just grow crops — they also help store carbon in the soil more effectively than synthetic alternatives.

The study, led by researchers at Kansas State University and published in collaboration with Canadian Light Source in 2024, offers the clearest picture yet of how long-term use of organic fertilizers can boost carbon sequestration while improving overall soil health.

"To my knowledge, this is the first direct evidence of mechanisms through which organic enhancements improve soil health, microbial diversity, and carbon sequestration," said Ganga Hettiarachchi, a professor of soil and environmental chemistry at K-State.

As carbon dioxide levels continue to rise globally, solutions that trap carbon — whether through natural systems like forests or emerging technologies — are gaining urgency. This new research suggests that everyday farmland could become part of the solution.

The researchers studied soil from a Kansas cornfield that had been farmed without tilling for more than two decades and managed using a variety of fertilizers. Using ultrabright synchrotron light at the Advanced Light Source in California and the Canadian Light Source in Saskatchewan, they examined exactly how carbon was stored in the soil.

They found that some carbon was locked away in tiny pores, while other carbon molecules had chemically bonded to minerals in the soil — both forms resistant to being released back into the atmosphere. But the biggest difference came from how the soil responded to different fertilizer treatments.

Soils treated with organic fertilizers — like composted manure or plant-based matter — showed higher levels of microbial carbon, suggesting a more active and diverse community of soil organisms. These soils also contained mineral markers indicating more intense biological and chemical activity.

In short, organic fertilizers don’t just add nutrients — they support living systems that help stabilize and store carbon long-term.

That’s a big deal for farmers and communities. Moving away from synthetic fertilizers could help cut pollution, lower health risks for people living near farms, and promote better environmental practices across the food system.

The findings come at a time when pressure is growing on the agricultural industry to adopt more sustainable methods. Organic fertilizers, often dismissed as niche or less efficient, are now being backed by science as a key climate tool.

It’s also good news for those looking to balance food production with environmental impact. As this study shows, farming practices rooted in soil health can do more than feed us — they can help clean the air, protect ecosystems, and build resilience into the land we rely on.

Researchers Uncover First Direct Evidence Linking Organic Fertilizers to Enhanced Soil Health and Carbon Storage

An adorable, and feisty, snow leopard cub was treated to her first pumpkin during Halloween-themed enrichment at the John Ball Zoo in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on October 13.

In this footage, the cub, named Juniper, can be seen playing with and snacking on a carved pumpkin. At one point, her mom attempts to snag a bite of the gourd, but Juniper manages to quickly take it right back.

“Spotted: a little ghost cat and her first pumpkin,” the zoo wrote on Facebook.

An adorable, and feisty, snow leopard cub was treated to her first pumpkin during Halloween-themed enrichment at the John Ball Zoo in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on October 13.In this footage, the cub, named Juniper, can be seen playing with and snacking on a carved pumpkin. At one point, her mom attempts to snag a bite of the gourd, but Juniper manages to quickly take it right back.“Spotted: a little ghost cat and her first pumpkin,” the zoo wrote on Facebook.

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