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This Farmer Surprised His Wife With 80 Acres of Sunflowers for Their Anniversary
In a heartwarming gesture of love and celebration, Lee Wilson surprised his wife of 50 years, Renee, with an extraordinary gift—a stunning field of 1.2 million sunflowers covering 80 acres. The sunflower display, their state flower, became a symbol of their enduring love and drew crowds to witness its beauty. The couple's journey from high school sweethearts to celebrating their golden anniversary has been filled with love, making the gift even more meaningful and special.
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British Family Finds Hidden Gold Treasure Worth Over £230,000 In Their Backyard
A British couple from Hampshire stumbled upon a centuries-old treasure hoard in their backyard — and it’s now set to sell for more than £230,000 (about $308,000 USD) at auction. The remarkable find, discovered in April 2020 in the coastal village of Milford on Sea, included 64 gold coins dating back nearly 500 years. The couple was adjusting a fence near a flower bed when the husband noticed a lump of clay-like soil. Inside it, they found what first appeared to be thin metal discs. But when their teenage son rinsed the lump under the garden tap, they realized they were holding gold. Coin specialist David Guest of David Guest Numismatics, who is handling the sale, said archaeologists later found six additional coins in October 2021, bringing the total to 70. The entire hoard is being auctioned in Zurich, Switzerland, on November 5 and is expected to exceed its six-figure estimate. “I am very confident that the total price realized will be significantly more than the pre-sale estimate,” Guest told Fox News Digital. The coins were buried in the late 1530s and were worth 26 pounds, 5 shillings, and 5½ pence at the time — more than the average property price in rural England then, which was about £25. “This was a considerable amount of money at the time,” Guest said. He believes the hoard was likely buried during one of England’s most turbulent periods. “It was almost certainly concealed during the tumultuous first phase of the English Reformation when Henry VIII was dissolving England’s ancient monasteries and appropriating much of the wealth of the Catholic Church,” Guest explained. The coins span more than a century of English history, minted between the 1420s and 1530s. Many feature the faces of four monarchs: Henry VI, Edward IV, Henry VII, and Henry VIII. “Four kings, two queens (Katherine of Aragon and Jane Seymour) and one cardinal are named on coins in the hoard,” Guest said. What makes the discovery even more exceptional is the condition of the coins. “[The hoard] is also remarkable for the very high state of preservation of the majority of the coins,” Guest said. “This makes them very attractive to the current market.” The find joins a growing list of treasure discoveries across the UK. In 2023, a plumber unearthed a stash of ancient coins in Leicestershire, later sold at auction in 2025. Earlier this year, officials in Norfolk announced the discovery of 25 Roman silver denarii — the equivalent of a soldier’s paycheck. For the Hampshire family, though, their backyard surprise may prove one of the most valuable in recent memory — a hidden slice of Tudor-era history that’s about to make headlines once again.
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Scientists Unlock 100-Year-Old Quantum Secret To Supercharge Solar Power
In a breakthrough that bridges modern quantum science with theories first explored a century ago, researchers at the University of Cambridge have observed a rare electronic phenomenon—previously thought possible only in inorganic metal oxides—inside a glowing organic semiconductor molecule. The discovery, led by Professor Hugo Bronstein and Professor Sir Richard Friend, reveals a completely new and highly efficient way to capture light and convert it into electricity. The finding could transform the design of solar panels and electronic devices, making them lighter, cheaper, and far simpler to manufacture. The study, published in Nature Materials, focuses on a spin-radical organic semiconductor called P3TTM. Each molecule of P3TTM contains one unpaired electron, giving it unusual magnetic and electronic properties. Bronstein’s team in Cambridge’s Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry synthesized the molecule, while Friend’s group in the Department of Physics explored its behavior when packed into thin films. The researchers initially designed the P3TTM family for its bright luminescence, useful in organic LEDs. But when they looked more closely, they found something unexpected. “This is the real magic,” said Biwen Li, lead researcher at the Cavendish Laboratory. “In most organic materials, electrons are paired up and don’t interact with their neighbors. But in our system, when the molecules pack together the interaction between the unpaired electrons on neighboring sites encourages them to align themselves alternately up and down, a hallmark of Mott-Hubbard behavior. Upon absorbing light one of these electrons hops onto its nearest neighbor creating positive and negative charges which can be extracted to give a photocurrent.” To test this, the team built a solar cell using a thin film of P3TTM. When exposed to light, the device achieved nearly perfect charge collection efficiency—almost every photon that hit it became usable electric current. Traditional organic solar cells rely on two materials: one to donate electrons and another to accept them. That interface limits how efficiently light can be turned into power. The new Cambridge device needs only one material, because the charge separation happens naturally between neighboring molecules of the same type. Dr. Petri Murto, also in the Department of Chemistry, developed versions of the molecule that fine-tune the distance and energy balance between neighboring sites—crucial for achieving the right Mott-Hubbard conditions. The result, researchers say, is a single lightweight organic material that can both absorb light and generate electric current, opening the door to simpler, low-cost solar technology. The discovery also carries historical weight. Sir Richard Friend knew Sir Nevill Mott personally early in his career, and the finding coincides with the 120th anniversary of Mott’s birth. Mott’s work on how electrons behave in disordered materials earned him the 1977 Nobel Prize in Physics and laid the foundation for modern semiconductor theory. “It feels like coming full circle,” Friend said. “Mott’s insights were foundational for my own career and for our understanding of semiconductors. To now see these profound quantum mechanical rules manifesting in a completely new class of organic materials, and to harness them for light harvesting, is truly special.” Professor Bronstein added, “We are not just improving old designs. We are writing a new chapter in the textbook, showing that organic materials are able to generate charges all by themselves.”
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AI is Learning How to Read Pain — and it Might Change How We Treat It
For years at Orchard Care Homes, a 23-facility dementia-care chain in northern England, Cheryl Baird watched nurses fill out the Abbey Pain Scale, an observational checklist used to evaluate pain in people who can’t communicate verbally. Baird, a former nurse and then the facility’s director of quality, describes it as “a tick-box exercise where people weren’t truly considering pain indicators.” As a result, agitated residents were often assumed to have behavioral issues. Since the scale doesn’t always distinguish between pain and other forms of distress, they were frequently prescribed psychotropic sedatives while their pain went untreated. Then, in January 2021, Orchard Care Homes began a trial of PainChek, a smartphone app that scans a resident’s face for microscopic muscle movements and uses artificial intelligence to calculate a likely pain score. Within weeks, the pilot unit saw calmer hallways and fewer prescriptions. “We immediately saw the benefits: ease of use, accuracy, and identifying pain that wouldn’t have been spotted using the old scale,” Baird says. PainChek is part of a growing effort to make pain measurable, not just guessable. In nursing homes, neonatal units, and intensive-care wards, researchers are trying to turn pain — medicine’s most subjective vital sign — into something that a camera or sensor can score as reliably as blood pressure. So far, PainChek has logged more than 10 million pain assessments and is authorized for use in Australia, the UK, Canada, and New Zealand, with an FDA decision pending in the United States. Other companies are exploring similar ideas, from EEG headbands to sensors that measure skin responses and muscle tension. Science already knows some of what happens when we hurt. When you stub your toe, for example, alarm cells called nociceptors send signals to your spinal cord and brain, where a “gate” can amplify or block them depending on stress, attention, or emotion. This helps explain why the same injury can feel unbearable one day and tolerable the next. Pain is not just a message from the body — it’s a conversation between body and brain. But understanding that conversation is tricky. Chronic pain, phantom-limb sensations, and cultural differences all defy consistent measurement. Even when patients self-report, the numbers don’t always match their care. A 2024 analysis found women’s pain scores were recorded 10% less often than men’s, while another study showed Black children with limb fractures were nearly 40% less likely to receive opioid pain relief than their white peers. For those who can’t speak at all — newborns, sedated patients, people with dementia — pain often goes unrecognized. That gap is where AI tools like PainChek come in. The app works like a thermometer for pain: caregivers hold a phone about 30 centimeters from a person’s face for a three-second scan. A neural network looks for nine specific micro-movements — like a raised upper lip or tensed cheeks — that correspond to pain, then calculates a score between 0 and 42. The caregiver then completes a short checklist about other signs, such as groaning or sleep disruption. “There’s a catalogue of ‘action-unit codes’—facial expressions common to all humans. Nine of those are associated with pain,” says Kreshnik Hoti, a senior research scientist with PainChek and a co-inventor of the device. The hybrid design, which pairs AI with human observation, turned out to be key. “Initially, we thought AI should automate everything, but now we see [that] hybrid use—AI plus human input—is our major strength,” he says. Inside Orchard Care Homes, that combination changed daily routines. An internal study of four homes found that psychotropic prescriptions dropped within weeks and residents’ behavior calmed. “Those who were isolated due to pain began socializing,” Baird recalls. “Residents who skipped meals because of undetected dental pain began eating again.” Still, skepticism remains. Facial-recognition AI has long struggled with skin-tone bias, and facial tension can stem from fear, nausea, or confusion — not just pain. The app’s accuracy also depends on how carefully caregivers complete the checklist. And some nurses worry that algorithms could erode clinical judgment or add yet another layer of digital paperwork. Baird admits the cultural shift is ongoing. “The sector has been slow to adopt technology, but it’s changing,” she says. A full Abbey Pain Scale can take 20 minutes to complete, while a PainChek scan takes less than five. Engineers are now adapting the system for infants, whose facial expressions are faster and more subtle. PainChek Infant, based on the Baby Facial Action Coding System, is being tested in Australia. If the FDA gives its approval, PainChek will join a new generation of devices that aim to quantify pain objectively — a goal once considered impossible. Whether that changes how society understands suffering remains to be seen. For Baird, who has lived with chronic pain herself, the answer feels clear. “I’ve had a hard time getting people to believe me,” she says. “[PainChek] would have made a huge difference.” If AI can give silent patients a numerical voice — and make clinicians listen — it might just add a new line to the vital-sign chart that finally makes pain visible.
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Harry Potter Magic Fills Village Potholes in Devon, to Locals’ Delight — and Disbelief
In most parts of Britain, potholes are a source of daily frustration. But in one small village in Devon, they’ve just been fixed — by Harry Potter. Well, sort of. Lustleigh, a postcard-perfect village on the edge of Dartmoor, is one of the filming locations for HBO’s upcoming adaptation of the Harry Potter books. Ahead of the shoot, the production crew quietly arranged for repairs to Wreyland Path, a lane lined with stone walls and thatched cottages, leaving locals both grateful and bemused. “Good news! The filming company have been given permission by the DCC highways to proceed with repairs on Wreyland Path, using an approved contractor,” the parish council announced on Facebook. “The contractor will fill all large potholes manually and will then assess if further work needs to be carried out.” The post added that the path would remain open during the repairs. Residents welcomed the smoother ride but were quick to point out the irony. “Can fix potholes for filming but not for everyday use,” one villager wrote in response. Another chimed in: “Would it be possible for the parish council [to] ask the film company, as a good token gesture, to do all the other roads in the parish?” A third simply joked, “Harry Potter and the potholes … good new book heading.” Lustleigh’s council already runs a “pothole tracker” spreadsheet and a volunteer team to patch smaller holes. Bigger craters — anything more than 4cm deep and 30cm wide — must be reported to the county council. The HBO production, operating under the codename “Brown Cat,” filmed earlier this year in Cadgwith, a fishing village in Cornwall. Actor Dominic McLaughlin was spotted there in costume as Harry Potter. With Lustleigh’s population of about 600, the sudden arrival of a film crew has stirred quiet excitement. Tourism businesses across the southwest are already hoping that, once the series airs in 2027, the region will see a fresh wave of Potter fans chasing a bit of on-screen magic — and perhaps smoother roads along the way.
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German Woman Returns Ancient Relic to Greece After 50 Years: "Never Too Late to Do the Right Thing"
A German woman who stole the top of an ancient column from Olympia more than half a century ago has returned it to Greece, the country’s culture ministry announced on Saturday. The artifact — the capital of a limestone column measuring about 23 centimeters (nine inches) high and 33.5 centimeters (13 inches) wide — was taken decades ago from the Leonidaion, a 4th-century BCE guesthouse that once hosted VIP visitors to the ancient Olympic Games. In a statement, Greece’s culture ministry praised the woman’s “sensitivity and courage” in coming forward. “Motivated by the recent return of important antiquities from the University of Muenster to their countries of origin, she decided to hand it over to the university, with whose valuable contribution it returned to Greece and Ancient Olympia,” the ministry said. The handover took place Friday and marks the third artifact returned to Greece by the University of Muenster in recent years. In 2019, the university returned a twin-handled wine cup that had belonged to a champion of the first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896. In 2024, it sent back a Roman-era marble head that had been taken from a cemetery in Thessaloniki. “This is a particularly moving moment,” said Giorgos Didaskalou, a senior official at the Greek culture ministry. “This act proves that culture and history know no borders but require cooperation, responsibility, and mutual respect.” Torben Schreiber, curator of the University of Muenster’s archaeological museum, added: “It is never too late to do the right thing, the moral and the just.” Greece has been steadily working to reclaim its cultural heritage through diplomacy rather than litigation. Its most prominent effort remains the campaign to secure the return of the Parthenon Marbles, which have been housed in the British Museum since the 19th century. For now, Greece is celebrating another small but meaningful victory — one that began with an act of personal conscience and ended with a piece of ancient Olympia finally going home.
Score (97)
How Medieval Castles in Europe Are Being Transformed Into Sustainable Tourism Strongholds
Two centuries-old castles in Croatia’s Istrian region are getting a new lease on life — proving that historic preservation can go hand in hand with sustainable tourism and local job creation. In the small village of Svetvinčenat, the Morosini-Grimani Castle stands as one of the best-preserved Renaissance fortresses in Istria. Once abandoned, it now welcomes around 45,000 visitors a year and employs a dozen staff during the high season. Its restored stone walls now host everything from escape-room games and weddings to culinary tastings, concerts, and medieval-themed nights. The surrounding grounds are also used for local markets and traditional games, giving the castle a role at the center of community life once again. “The castle was here before us and we need to make sure that it remains after us,” said Matija Ljuba, the castle’s creative development manager. “And this is something that we talk about to all the guests who come here: to have fun and enjoy it, but to respect every stone.” Ljuba says sustainability is at the heart of every event and program. “When we plan events or programmes for groups, we take special care to make them sustainable,” he said. Morosini-Grimani is one of two sites renovated under the KulTERRA project, an EU-funded initiative aimed at reviving Istria’s cultural landmarks. With a budget of €3 million — 85% of it covered by the European Cohesion Policy — the project focuses on restoring historic fortresses while strengthening local economies through tourism and cultural programming. The second site, Petrapilosa Fortress, dates back to the 10th century and sits high above the village of Buzet. Its remote setting once made it a formidable stronghold — but today, that isolation poses challenges. “Perhaps in history, this isolation provided an advantage as a strategic defence position. However, today it is very, very inaccessible terrain,” said Matija Nezić, the castle’s cultural and artistic coordinator. “We don’t have good enough roads to organise bigger tour groups coming by bus as then it really becomes a problem. We are working to improve the situation.” Despite the hurdles, Petrapilosa now attracts visitors for treasure hunts, poetry readings, meditation workshops, and jazz and rock concerts — a creative mix of past and present that draws people back to the region. For archaeologist Josip Višnjić, who studied and helped restore Petrapilosa, the project highlights why cultural heritage must stay active to survive. “When we’ve restored the structures that are still preserved, if they are not in use, then soon after we will have problems again, because the structures will again collapse or be destroyed,” said Višnjić, who also teaches at the Juraj Dobrila University of Pula. “So, when you have a space that is in a condition like here in Petrapilosa, it really attracts people.” He believes that by bringing visitors back into these spaces, communities are encouraged to value and protect their history. “It’s very important that visitors start to appreciate what they have more and to think about how to preserve this heritage,” he said. Led by the Svetvinčenat Municipality in collaboration with 11 public, private, and civil partners, the KulTERRA project has done more than preserve two castles. It has turned them into living monuments — places where Istria’s history, creativity, and community spirit continue to thrive.
Score (98)
Why a Walk in the Park Really Does Clear Your Head
If you’ve ever felt mentally lighter after a walk in the park, science says you’re onto something. A growing body of research shows that spending time outdoors boosts focus, memory, and mental clarity — and it works even if you don’t consider yourself a nature lover. The phenomenon first grabbed scientists’ attention in 2008, when 38 University of Michigan students were split into two groups. One walked 2.8 miles through a quiet arboretum, while the other took the same route along busy city streets. A week later, they swapped environments. Both groups showed cognitive improvement, but the nature walkers outperformed the urban group by a wide margin, with memory and attention scores rising nearly 20 percent. Follow-up studies confirmed what many people already suspected: time in green spaces helps our brains recover from fatigue. “You didn’t even need to like or enjoy the nature walk to get these cognitive benefits,” said Marc Berman, a psychology professor at the University of Chicago and author of Nature and the Mind. His work builds on what’s called attention restoration theory — the idea that our ability to concentrate is finite, and that natural settings gently recharge it by engaging the mind in a “softly fascinating” way. Newer research is beginning to explain what’s happening inside our heads. A 2024 study from the University of Utah, led by Amy McDonnell, used brainwave tracking to measure how people’s brains respond to time outdoors. “The brain came back online more efficient and stronger than ever after exposure to nature,” McDonnell said, noting that participants’ brain activity dipped into a calmer rhythm during their walks, then rebounded with sharper focus afterward. Exactly why this happens remains an open question. Some scientists point to the visual complexity of leaves and light, which keeps the eyes engaged without overstimulating the mind. Others suspect it’s the quiet, the scent of trees, or simply the absence of screens and traffic. Whatever the mechanism, experts agree that the outdoors gives our brains a kind of rest that city streets can’t match. And the benefits go beyond the mind. Green spaces can cool neighbourhoods by providing shade, reduce pollution, and even support biodiversity by welcoming pollinators. In turn, those environmental effects improve public health — lowering rates of stress-related illness and promoting cleaner air. “We’ve already seen similar studies suggest that nature is beneficial for our health, whether it’s lowering our risk of disease or improving our gut biome,” said Gloria Mark, a professor of informatics at UC Irvine. “Something about walking in nature is benefiting our attention.” So next time your brain feels foggy, skip the caffeine and head outside. You don’t need hiking boots or a scenic overlook — a few trees, a park bench, and a short stroll might be all it takes to bring your mind back online, calmer and clearer than before.
Score (97)
Lego MRI Scanner Sets are Helping Reduce Anxiety In Children Undergoing Medical Treatment
In the fall of 2023, just two months after his mother finished her battle with breast cancer, 13-year-old Sam Lane began to get sick. After several rounds of testing, doctors delivered news no one wanted to hear: Sam had a rare brain and spine cancer. “They said ‘cancer,’ and before I started crying, I said, ‘Dang it, I was going to guess that, but I didn’t want it to be that bad,’” Sam recalled. At his lowest point — intubated and unable to walk — a nurse at Boston Children’s Hospital offered Sam something unexpected: a small Lego project that would help other young patients. She handed him a box containing a Lego MRI scanner set and asked for his help building it. The toy, designed to help children understand MRI procedures through play, features a miniature scanner, a patient bed that moves back and forth, and tiny medical instruments. The idea is to make an intimidating experience less frightening by turning it into something kids can touch and explore. Sam took the task seriously. “I remember sitting there saying to him, ‘Sammy, why don’t you take a break? You’ve been working at that straight for some time,’” said his mother, Christina Lane. “And he just didn’t even look at me and was like, ‘Nope, this is important... I need to help other kids.’” That set, now displayed at the hospital, is helping children prepare for their own scans — something Sam knows all too well can be scary. “An MRI machine, that’s not something that kids are seeing in school, that’s not what they’re talking about at home,” said child life specialist Laura Boegler. “Using the MRI Lego set, we’re able to show kids in a way that’s comfortable for them.” Lego, which doesn’t sell the sets commercially, has donated more than 10,000 of them to hospitals around the world. The company recently announced that over 1 million children have used the kits to learn about MRIs. A study by Lego found that 96% of healthcare professionals said the model helps reduce children’s anxiety, and nearly half reported fewer cases requiring sedation after play sessions. “We often say that play is a universal language,” said Boston Children’s child life specialist Alyssa Sachs. “Being able to touch and ask questions really helps ease anxieties and misconceptions that any kids have.” For Sam, the project did more than just distract him — it gave him purpose during treatment. “To have a little Lego buddy that they can identify with that is going through the same things that they are is really incredible,” his mother said. “As a mom, as a nurse, as a human being, to be able to support our kids during such a challenging and difficult time through play — truly, it’s essential.” Now, over a year cancer-free, Sam says he’s no longer afraid of MRIs. In fact, he has a simple ritual before each one. “I fall asleep,” he said with a smile. The Lego set he built continues to help other kids face what once terrified him — proof that even the smallest bricks can build something powerful: courage.
Score (98)
This Toronto Teen Completed a 100-Kilometre Charity Walk, Raising Over $45,000
A 13-year-old girl from Toronto has spent her Thanksgiving weekend walking 100 kilometres to support a cause close to her heart — helping homeless and at-risk youth. Evangeline Link began her journey on Friday, trekking from Binbrook, Ontario, to Toronto for her fourth annual “Evangeline Walks” fundraiser. The three-day challenge raises money for Covenant House, Canada’s largest agency serving youth aged 16 to 24 who are homeless, trafficked, or at risk. Since starting the fundraiser at age 10, Evangeline has raised more than $45,000 for the charity — and inspired others to lace up alongside her. “The journey has been good, but it’s been a little hard this morning since it’s the third day in a row,” she told CP24 on Sunday. “The third day is always the hardest because it’s the in-between one. You’ve walked for two days already, but it’s not the last day yet. So you know you still have more to go.” Evangeline said the idea came to her in 2021 after one of her teachers participated in the Ride to Conquer Cancer. “That really inspired me because I wanted to do something beautiful, meaningful for other people too,” she said. Combining her love of walking with her affection for her grandparents, she decided to make the trek from their home to Toronto — and turn it into a fundraiser. At first, her parents, Ryan and Teresita Link, were hesitant about the idea of their 10-year-old daughter walking such a long distance. But once they saw her determination, they came around. In an email, they said they are “extremely proud” of Evangeline, especially for how her example has encouraged others to take part. “In times where we can find ourselves surrounded by negativity, we could all use her motivation to inspire us all,” they wrote. “She wants the youth at Covenant House to have what she knows she already has.” For Evangeline, the long hours of walking are worth it if they can help someone in need. “I did a very big step here and this took a lot of effort,” she said. “But if you don’t necessarily have that energy to do the same thing, then always do what you set your mind to — do what helps other people and what helps you.” As for what’s next, the young philanthropist has no plans to slow down. She said she intends to keep doing her annual walk for as long as she can.
Score (98)
Florida Bus Driver Rescues Young Boy Walking Barefoot In The Street
A Tampa bus driver is being hailed as a hero after rescuing a barefoot young boy who was wandering alone in traffic. Barbara Baker, a driver with the Hillsborough Transit Authority, was on her usual route on August 31 when she spotted the child — dressed only in pajamas — in the middle of a busy street. “Oh my God, that’s a baby,” Baker recalled to Local 12. “My heart just dropped, and that’s what made me jump off the bus.” She immediately stopped her bus, got out, and carefully approached the boy, speaking softly to reassure him. “When I approached the baby, he looked at me and I said, ‘Come on baby, let me take you to mommy.’ So he let me pick him up,” she said. Baker carried the child to safety and stayed with him until police arrived. Officers began knocking on nearby doors to locate his family while Baker comforted the boy, keeping him calm until he was reunited with his mother. “When the police came, it’s like I almost wanted to cry because I thought about my grandbabies,” Baker said. The Hillsborough Transit Authority praised Baker’s quick thinking and compassion, calling her actions a model of care and professionalism. Community members have echoed that praise, saying her instinctive kindness likely prevented a tragedy. Thanks to her calm, decisive response, a frightened child made it home safely — and Tampa gained another everyday hero behind the wheel.