Conjoined Twins Who Were Given a 2% Chance of Survival Are Now Kindergarten Graduates

Against incredible odds of just 2%, rare conjoined twins, Abby and Erin, successfully underwent surgery to separate their heads. Now, despite developmental challenges, they graduated kindergarten and are thriving as they approach their seventh birthday. Proud parents Heather and Riley say they are amazed by their daughters' progress. Through sharing their story, they hope to inspire other parents facing similar challenges, saying miracles are possible and dreams can come true.

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Amanda Seyfried Describes Her Animal Rescue Farm As 'My Dream'

Amanda Seyfried might be a Hollywood star, but when she’s not filming, she’s knee-deep in barn chores at her farm in upstate New York. The Testament of Ann Lee actress recently opened up to Vogue about her life far from red carpets, where she, husband Thomas Sadoski, and their kids — Nina, 8, and Thomas, 5 — run a fully registered animal rescue on a sprawling rural property in the Catskills. “When I say it’s a rescue, it’s fully a rescue — it’s my dream,” Seyfried said of the nonprofit farm, home to horses, donkeys, goats, chickens, ducks, dogs, and cats. Many of the animals arrive with health issues or are nearing the end of their lives. “They usually come with problems, or they’re really old, or they’re lame, or whatever,” she explained. “I just hug them, on my own feet.” Even the cats they care for are often overlooked by others. “One is so old and decrepit that he just has diarrhea all the time, but he still purrs when he eats,” Seyfried said. She and Sadoski don’t run the place alone — a caretaker lives nearby — but Seyfried is hands-on and frank about the realities of rescue life. “One [duck] got eaten the other night — it was probably a fox,” she shared. The family’s longtime companion is Finn, their 16-year-old Australian shepherd–border collie. “He’s a big guy and brilliant, brilliant, and he still runs like an a------,” she joked. While they’ve received chickens from locals — “people just give us chickens,” she laughed — their rescue animals also include horses and ponies, many of them older or retired. Seyfried says she rarely rides. “I just hug them.” Though she moved upstate before having children, Seyfried told Forbes in 2024 that leaving New York City was the best thing for her. “Staying here was the best decision for privacy, peace and nature,” she said. “It offers a more balanced life than the city does. It was essential for my mental health.” Farm life isn’t without its challenges. In a 2022 interview on The Kelly Clarkson Show, Seyfried recalled a night when an ice storm knocked out power and left the family without heat. “We ended up having to walk outside in 5-degree weather to the barn and sleep there because the generator runs for that,” she said. “This is what you give up… you sacrifice these things when nature happens.” Still, the trade-offs are worth it. Between animal rescues, peaceful surroundings, and a little chaos, Seyfried has carved out a life she calls her dream — just not one that comes without mud, mess, or midnight trips to the barn.

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Pakistan’s First Pro Women’s MMA Fight Has a Hometown Hero: Anita Karim

When Anita Karim steps into the ring this Saturday for Pakistan’s first-ever professional women’s MMA title fight, she won’t just be chasing a championship — she’ll be fighting for the country’s future in combat sports. Karim, 29, has been breaking ground ever since she dropped out of university in 2017 to pursue mixed martial arts full-time. Born and raised in the mountain town of Karimabad in northern Pakistan’s Gilgit-Baltistan region, she’s the first woman from the country to compete — and win — an international MMA bout. Now, she’s making history again, this time on home soil. “I just wanted to be my best at something I loved and make my parents proud,” she says. “But when I saw the outpouring of love after my first win, it felt like a transformative moment. Perhaps I had changed the country’s perspective on women in MMA.” She might be right. This weekend, she’ll face Parisa Shamsabadi of Iran in Islamabad, a fight that would’ve been unthinkable in Pakistan even a few years ago. MMA wasn’t officially recognized in the country until 2020. Women’s fights didn’t exist. But Karim pushed ahead anyway — first training with her three older brothers at their grassroots gym, Fight Fortress, then moving to Thailand for five years to train with one of the world’s top Muay Thai camps. At every step, she’s had to claw her way forward. There were no women to spar with, no road map to follow, and no guarantee that fans or sponsors would ever take notice. What she did have was family. Her father Nisar, a former security guard, enrolled her in taekwondo when she was seven — partly for self-defense, partly so she could be “strong like her brothers.” Her mother, Nelofar, wasn’t as easily won over. Known as the “military chief” at home, she kept Anita grounded in chores and routine, expecting her to excel in school and eventually go to university. Anita did just that — until she didn’t. At 20, she called her parents from Islamabad and told them she was leaving university to fight. There was tension, but also a condition: if she was going to do it, there’d be no turning back. Soon after, she was training full-time with her brothers in the capital. One day during a trip home, she playfully put her father in a rear-naked choke. He lost consciousness in six seconds. Her mother screamed. Her father was impressed. By 2018, Karim had made her pro debut in Singapore. She lost that first fight, a painful submission to a veteran fighter, but came back stronger seven months later to beat Indonesia’s Gita Suharsono — and became the first Pakistani woman to win an international MMA match. The return home was overwhelming. Crowds mobbed her at Islamabad airport. A parade lined the Karakoram Highway all the way to her home in Hunza. She cried when her mother was invited onstage alongside her at a college celebration. But if those moments gave her a taste of stardom, what followed was something closer to sacrifice. She spent the next five years training in Thailand, far from family, friends, and familiarity. She chopped off her hair, fought through injuries, and taped her own knee just to make it through fights. She cooked for herself, learned to recover from defeats, and taught herself to endure. “I feared losing because it would bring the wrath of the boss,” she said, referring to Fairtex Gym’s notoriously strict founder. “I would sit under a cold shower to drown out the thoughts of giving up.” Instead, she thrived. Karim won four of her next five fights and earned a reputation as one of Asia’s top prospects. She returned to Pakistan in 2024, married her longtime fiancé and fellow coach Hassan Gul Basti, and resumed training at Fight Fortress — now one of the country’s leading gyms. But the financial reality remains tough. Despite being the face of women’s MMA in Pakistan, she doesn’t earn enough from the sport to survive. Like many fighters, she works side gigs as a personal trainer. Sponsorships are hard to come by. International fights are often stalled by visa issues. Government support is nonexistent. In a country where cricket dominates everything, MMA fighters hustle just to stay afloat. “It is not cheap to sustain yourself as an MMA fighter,” she says. “You need money for supplements, recovery, diet — and in Pakistan, it’s all on you.” Still, she keeps going. She trains three times a day. She studies tape. She runs drills. She stays late after class to work on grappling. And when the training ends, she posts a selfie, puts on music in Burushaski — the language of her people — and lets herself drift back to the mountains of Hunza. That’s where it all began. And that’s what she’ll be carrying with her into the ring on Saturday. Not just a record. Not just a title. But a reminder — that a girl from a small town, who carried sacks of apricots through the mountains, who trained with her brothers, who faced down doubters and dislocated arms, can stand at the centre of the cage and show the next generation of fighters what’s possible.

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David Bowie’s Childhood Home to Be Restored for Youth Arts Workshops

A South London home where David Bowie spent much of his early life will soon be restored and opened to the public as a creative space for young people. The Heritage of London Trust announced plans to renovate 4 Plaistow Grove in Bromley, where Bowie lived from age 8 until he left home in 1968. The charity has acquired the terraced house and will restore its interior to match the layout from Bowie’s childhood. “It’s wonderful to have this opportunity to tell his story and inspire a new generation of young people,” said Dr. Nicola Stacey, the Trust’s director. “It’s really important for the heritage of London to preserve this site.” Born David Robert Jones in Brixton in 1947, Bowie moved to Bromley as a young boy. It was in this modest suburban home that his transformation began. According to Geoffrey Marsh, who co-curated the David Bowie Is exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum, the home played a key role in shaping the musician’s creative identity. “It was in this small house, particularly in his tiny bedroom, that Bowie evolved from an ordinary suburban schoolboy to the beginnings of an extraordinary international stardom,” Marsh said. “As he said, ‘I spent so much time in my bedroom. It really was my entire world. I had books up there, my music up there, my record player.’” The restored space will host arts and skills workshops for youth, with the goal of helping young people build confidence, creativity, and communication skills. The project is expected to be completed in 2027. Bowie’s widow, Iman, and their daughter Lexi both posted tributes on what would have been his 79th birthday on January 8. The music icon released his final album, Blackstar, on his birthday in 2016 and died just two days later after a private battle with cancer. To support the project, the Jones Day Foundation has already donated £500,000. “We hope that people everywhere will want to be involved,” Dr. Stacey said. The announcement comes as fans prepare to mark the 10th anniversary of Bowie’s death. A new documentary, Bowie: The Final Act, is now screening in UK and Irish cinemas, and the BBC has announced another documentary, Bowie in Berlin, set to release later this year. For Bowie’s fans, the restoration of his childhood home is more than a tribute — it’s a bridge between the past and future, offering young people a chance to create their own stories in the place where his began.

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Study in Mice Points to Drug That Could Regrow Cartilage, Prevent Arthritis

Scientists at Stanford University say they’ve found a way to regenerate cartilage in aging joints — and the results could someday change how we treat arthritis. The study, published in Science, focused on a single protein called 15-PGDH. This molecule becomes more abundant as we age and has already been tied to aging-related tissue breakdown. It also blocks the body's ability to reduce inflammation and repair damage. That raised a question: could 15-PGDH be the reason joints wear down over time? To find out, researchers gave older mice a drug that blocks 15-PGDH. What they saw next was remarkable. Cartilage that had worn away in the mice’s knees began to grow back. Their gaits became more stable, and they started putting more weight on previously injured limbs — a sign they were in less pain. In younger mice, the same drug also seemed to protect against arthritis developing after an injury. Even after scientists simulated a torn ACL — a common knee injury — the mice treated with the inhibitor didn’t go on to develop the usual signs of osteoarthritis. This marks a big shift in thinking, says microbiologist Helen Blau, one of the study’s senior authors. "This is a new way of regenerating adult tissue, and it has significant clinical promise for treating arthritis due to aging or injury," she said. "We were looking for stem cells, but they are clearly not involved. It's very exciting." The key appears to be chondrocytes — the cells that make and maintain cartilage. When 15-PGDH was blocked, these existing cells began to behave differently, turning into a healthier, more active form. "The mechanism is quite striking and really shifted our perspective about how tissue regeneration can occur," said Nidhi Bhutani, an orthopaedic scientist at Stanford. "It's clear that a large pool of already existing cells in cartilage are changing their gene expression patterns. And by targeting these cells for regeneration, we may have an opportunity to have a bigger overall impact clinically." To see if the results might hold true for people, the team tested the same drug on human cartilage samples from knee replacement patients. Again, the tissue showed signs of healing. The cartilage got stiffer and less inflamed, both signs of regeneration. Right now, treatments for osteoarthritis focus mostly on managing pain. While researchers have experimented with stem cells to try to rebuild cartilage, nothing has yet worked reliably. This study could change that. A trial using a 15-PGDH blocker to fight muscle weakness has already taken place, and the drug was found to be safe — a promising sign that could fast-track human trials focused on arthritis. "We are very excited about this potential breakthrough," said Blau. "Imagine regrowing existing cartilage and avoiding joint replacement." For now, it's still early days. But the research offers a glimpse at a future where age-related joint damage could be reversed — not just endured.

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Engineering Student Builds Prototype Modular Home To Combat Homelessness

At just 18 years old, Ribal Zebian is already taking on one of his city’s biggest challenges — homelessness — with a solution he built himself. The Western University engineering student from London, Ontario, has developed a modular, fiberglass-based tiny home system aimed at providing insulated, weather-resistant shelter for some of the city’s 1,800 unhoused residents. Zebian’s journey began with a passion for building. At 17, he crafted a child-sized wooden replica of a Mercedes G-Class and donated it to a museum. Now, he’s turned his focus toward something far more urgent. “I’m concerned about the people in the future that will end up facing that problem,” he told CTV News, pointing to the rising cost of housing. “House prices are increasing and increasing and increasing.” The modular shelters are built using precision-molded fiberglass panels with utility cavities and insulated PET plastic cores in the ceilings — designed to withstand Canadian weather year-round. The panels can be scaled up or down to form structures of various sizes, making the system adaptable for different needs. Starting in May, Zebian plans to live inside one of the units for a full year. It’s part personal challenge, part product test. By experiencing the space himself — in every season, through all weather — he hopes to identify every flaw and improve the design before pushing for broader use. Affordable housing advocate Gary Brown applauded the effort. “Are tiny homes the entire answer? No, but it’s a part of the solution,” he told CTV. “I’ve seen quite a few going up in other cities, and it’s something London itself is kind of lagging behind a little bit.” Zebian is hoping to change that. With durability, scalability, and compassion at its core, his project is proof that big ideas can come from young minds — and that practical engineering can be a tool for social change.

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Astrophotographer Captures Hubble Space Telescope Zipping Across The Sun — in Just Over One Second

It wasn’t a bird or a plane. It was the Hubble Space Telescope — flying past the face of the sun at 27,000 kilometers per hour. Astrophotographer Efrain Morales captured the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment on December 15, 2025, from Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. The video shows Hubble as a crisp, tiny silhouette gliding past the sunspot AR4308, a rare alignment that lasted just 1.01 seconds. Catching a solar transit like this takes more than luck. The Hubble orbits Earth every 95 minutes at an altitude of roughly 547 kilometers. Predicting when and where it will cross the sun requires pinpoint precision — in this case, the path was only visible within a narrow 7.5-kilometer-wide corridor on Earth. Morales had to be in exactly the right spot at exactly the right time, with no room for error. Using transit-prediction software to plot Hubble’s trajectory, Morales set up a high-frame-rate solar imaging system. He filmed the transit with a Lunt LS50THa solar telescope mounted on a CGX-L, equipped with an ASI CMOS camera and Cemax 2x Barlows — gear specifically designed for detailed, safe solar imaging. Compared to the International Space Station, which often appears in solar transits due to its larger size, Hubble is a much tougher target. At just 13 meters long, it's about one-tenth the size of the ISS, making moments like this all the more impressive to capture. From Earth, the whole thing was over in barely a second. But thanks to careful planning, sharp optics, and split-second timing, Morales preserved a glimpse of one of NASA’s most iconic spacecraft streaking across the sun.

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Archaeologists Discover Rare Iron Age Battle Trumpet In the UK

An extraordinary trove of Iron Age artifacts has been uncovered in West Norfolk, revealing new insights into Britain’s ancient warrior culture — including the rare remains of a Celtic battle trumpet. The discovery was made during a routine archaeological excavation by Pre-Construct Archaeology, carried out as part of the standard planning process for a residential development. What they found, however, was far from routine. Among the objects was a nearly complete carnyx — a long, animal-headed bronze trumpet used by Celtic tribes to rally warriors in battle. The team also uncovered parts of a second carnyx, along with a sheet-bronze boar’s head believed to be from a military standard, five shield bosses, and an iron object of unknown origin. These dramatic instruments, often shaped like boars or dragons, were not just used for sound — they were symbols of power and intimidation, often depicted by the Romans as battlefield trophies. Finds of carnyces are extremely rare in Britain. “The full research and conservation of these incredibly fragile remains will reshape our view of sound and music in the Iron Age,” said Dr. Fraser Hunter, Iron Age and Roman curator at National Museums Scotland. “The carnyces and the boar-headed standard are styles well known on the continent and remind us that communities in Britain were well-connected to a wider European world at this time.” To preserve the delicate find, archaeologists lifted the objects in a solid block of soil and used scanning technology to analyze their layout before conservation experts began carefully removing and examining each item. “This find is a powerful reminder of Norfolk’s Iron Age past, which still retains its capacity to fascinate the British public,” said Dr. Tim Pestell, Senior Curator of Archaeology for Norfolk Museums Service. “The Norfolk Carnyx Hoard will provide archaeologists with an unparalleled opportunity to investigate a number of rare objects and ultimately, to tell the story of how these came to be buried in the county two thousand years ago.” Because the hoard includes multiple prehistoric metal objects from a single find, it has been reported to the coroner under the UK’s Treasure Act. A decision on its legal status is expected in early 2026, which will determine how and where the items will be preserved or displayed. Historic England, Norfolk Museums Service, Pre-Construct Archaeology, and the National Museum of Scotland are all working together on conservation and future research. The long-term home of the hoard has not yet been decided.

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Fashion Label Innovates By Sewing Braille Beads Into Garments For Blind Shoppers

What started as a university project is now a fashion label giving blind and visually impaired shoppers more independence — and style — when it comes to getting dressed. Hisi Studio, founded by Angela Wanjiku, began as her senior thesis at the University of Nairobi. Today, it’s a fully fledged design studio where textile artists hand-stitch beaded Braille patterns and meaningful phrases onto clothing like shirts and skirts. One shirt reads: “The less you see the eyes, the more you see the heart.” Each piece in the collection is designed not just to look good but to make fashion more accessible. Every garment comes with a QR code tag that can be scanned using screen reader tools like Google Talkback, which reads out clothing descriptions and care instructions for visually impaired wearers. Some designs go even further to address real-world challenges. One of the standout pieces in Hisi Studio’s early collections is a leather belt bag created to help reduce theft. Wanjiku designed it after hearing from blind Kenyans who said pickpocketing was a common problem. The bag fits snugly against the body, making it easier for wearers to keep track of their belongings. “I believe fashion plays an important role as a communicator of information in social interactions and as an aid in establishing self-identity,” Wanjiku told Teen Vogue. “Fashion designers and clothing manufacturers should choose to be intentional about their consideration for disabled consumers.” Julius Mbura, a visually impaired customer, told the Associated Press that one of the things he appreciates most is finally being able to read what his shirts say. “This is one brand that ensures people who are blind and visually impaired appreciate textile and fashion and clothes that represent who they are and what they are,” he said. Wanjiku’s mission is clear: clothing should reflect the identities of the people wearing it — and that includes the blind and visually impaired. With tactile Braille designs, smart use of tech, and thoughtful touches inspired by real community feedback, Hisi Studio is showing that accessible fashion doesn’t have to sacrifice creativity. It just takes intention — and beads.

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Coastguard rescues dog stranded halfway down 100-foot cliff in the UK

A dramatic rescue took place on January 5 after a missing dog was found perched halfway down a 100-foot cliff at Trebarwith, Cornwall. The dog had been missing since the previous day, and was eventually spotted on a narrow ledge, unable to climb back up. Boscastle Coastguard responded, sending a trained cliff technician down the sheer drop to reach the stranded animal. Miraculously, the dog was uninjured and, according to the team, “delighted” to be rescued. After a quick check-up, the technician secured the pup and safely brought it back to the top — where it was reunited with its very relieved owners. How the dog ended up on the ledge remains a mystery, but the rescue ended happily, with no injuries and plenty of tail wags.

This Prairie Reserve Achieved a Major Milestone by Removing 100th Mile of Barbed Wire Fencing

In a major milestone for conservation in the American West, the nonprofit American Prairie has now removed more than 100 miles of old barbed wire fencing across its land — clearing the way for bison, elk, and pronghorn to roam more freely across the Great Plains. That tangled metal barrier added up to more than 500,000 pounds of scrap, and its removal is part of a broader effort to return one of North America’s most endangered ecosystems to something closer to its original state. For over two decades, American Prairie has quietly been assembling a vast patchwork of land in northeastern Montana, between the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge and the Upper Missouri Breaks National Monument. Their mission: to stitch together a fully functioning prairie ecosystem, one land deal at a time. So far, they’ve amassed 603,657 acres — 167,070 of them privately owned and 436,587 leased public acres — making it the largest private conservation project in the United States. If it were designated a national park, it would already rank among the top 10 largest in the Lower 48. But land is just the start. Restoring it is a different challenge altogether. The removal of derelict barbed wire fencing is key to that mission. While vital to ranching operations, these fences fragment habitat and restrict the natural movement of wildlife. Mule deer, elk, and pronghorn evolved to move across huge swaths of land, and for them to return in healthy numbers, they need open space. Of course, no Great Plains restoration would be complete without bison. American Prairie’s herd has grown from just 16 animals to 940 as of the end of 2025. They now roam across 48,000 acres of restored grasslands. To comply with legal requirements while still promoting free movement, the organization has replaced old fencing with wildlife-friendly electric alternatives. These fences are designed to let most animals pass through but still give a gentle shock to bison, especially when they rub up against fences to shed their winter coats. Each zone of fencing is powered sustainably using solar panels. A single 150-watt panel and 12-joule charger support 10 to 12 miles of fencing, backed up by a 12-volt battery that stores power for nights and cloudy days. Fencing decisions are made with a wide lens, considering not just wildlife movement but also grazing leases, public access, and the region’s rich bird life. In areas with heavy avian traffic, field crews have installed bird markers to reduce collisions — a change that research shows can cut crash rates by 70 percent. The scale of American Prairie’s effort is staggering. By some estimates, the North American prairie has shrunk by over 90 percent. The group’s goal is to protect — and in many cases rewild — 2.3 million acres, all funded through donations, philanthropy, and recreation revenue from activities like stargazing, guided tours, and wildlife viewing. They don’t just want to stop the loss. They want to reverse it. With the 100th mile of barbed wire now gone and a thriving bison herd back on the land, it’s a clear sign that they’re making progress. Not by waiting for sweeping government action, but by doing it piece by piece, acre by acre.

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