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How Prescription Meal Kits Are Helping Fight Diabetes
72-year-old Shane Bailey experienced a significant positive shift in her diet and diabetes management after receiving meal kits designed to address food insecurity and support those with diabetes. The program, a collaboration between local organizations and the Public Health Institute, aims to showcase the medical potential of food, promoting the idea of prescribing nutritious meals for managing or preventing chronic diseases. The approach, which includes nutrition classes and fresh produce kits, has demonstrated promising results.
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Surprising Jaguar Comeback: Mexico's Big Cats are Thriving Against the Odds
A new national census has found about 5,300 jaguars across the country, a 30 percent increase since the last count in 2010. That first survey, led by ecologist Gerardo Ceballos, had shocked researchers by finding four times more cats than they expected. “It was a great surprise, terrific news,” Ceballos said. “Obviously 4,000 means the species is still in danger of extinction, but 4,000 is a lot better than 1,000.” For the 2025 census, more than 50 research institutions and community leaders joined forces, installing 920 motion-activated camera traps across jaguar habitats. What they found defied expectations. Despite widespread deforestation in the 2010s, Mexico’s jaguar population has not only survived but expanded. “The fact that the country has managed to maintain and increase its population over the last 14 years is extraordinary,” Ceballos told the Guardian. “For me it’s great news for the country. Mexico and the world need good news.” The survey showed the Yucatán peninsula remains the jaguar stronghold, with 1,699 animals. The south Pacific coast followed with 1,541, then northeast and central Mexico with 813, the north Pacific with 733, and the central Pacific coast with 540. That means Mexico now has nearly as many jaguars as Africa does cheetahs. Compact and muscular, jaguars are the most versatile hunters among big cats. Their powerful jaws can crush turtle shells and crocodile hides. They climb trees, swim easily, and ambush prey both on land and in water. This adaptability is helping them persist as forests shrink and human development expands. Still, challenges loom. Jaguars face habitat loss from new highways, as well as the spread of livestock diseases when they prey on cattle. Conservationists say continued vigilance will be needed to keep populations rising. For now, though, the numbers offer rare conservation optimism. As Ceballos put it: “Mexico and the world need good news.”
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A Legacy Lives On: How One Woman Saved Five Lives Through Organ Donation
Adelyn Miller’s family says she always wanted to help others. In life, that meant planning to become a paramedic. In death, it meant saving five strangers with her organs. On Saturday in Eagan, Minnesota, four of those recipients met Miller’s family for the first time, turning grief into connection. “Oh man, I just miss talking to her,” said her mother, Vicki Wichmann Miller, remembering her 20-year-old daughter who was adventurous, funny, and full of love. Miller was ejected from a vehicle in 2023, suffering a fractured skull and dying days later of a brain herniation. “She was very much about helping everybody else,” her mother said. Now, the people carrying parts of her are helping to carry her legacy. “I owe her my life,” said Dennis Golownia, who received her lungs. Kevin Enders, who traveled from Illinois, now lives with her liver. “You saved my life and I’m eternally grateful,” he said. Jack Feast, also from Illinois, carries her heart. “I just want her to know she’s changed my life,” he said. And in Minnesota, Suzie Dauer has her kidney. “Hopefully, she could see it in my eyes, how grateful,” Dauer said. The group gathered with Miller’s family to share stories, laughter, and tears. They painted rocks inscribed with QR codes linking to Miller’s story, planning to leave them across the world for strangers to find. “Being able to meet her recipients has been extremely healing to me,” her mother said. For the recipients, it was more than gratitude. It was family. “The fact we’re both still alive because of Adelyn is indescribable,” Enders said, sitting beside Feast. Golownia, who came from the Milwaukee area, agreed. “I can see the scars on my chest and I still think of her.” Feast said the gathering gave him a chance to live fully with his daughter again — and to build new bonds with people tied forever by Miller’s gift. “I feel like I’ve gained a whole new family with Vicki and everyone else that’s here in Minnesota,” he said. “She really impacted a lot of people,” her mother said. Adelyn Miller’s family hopes her story inspires others to register as organ donors through the National Donate Life Registry.
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Earth's Ozone Layer is Healing Thanks to International Action, UN says
The Earth’s protective ozone layer is on the mend, and the hole over Antarctica is expected to vanish in the coming decades, according to a new United Nations report released on World Ozone Day. The UN’s World Meteorological Organization said the Antarctic ozone hole in 2024 was smaller than in recent years, calling it “welcome scientific news for people’s and planetary health.” “Today, the ozone layer is healing,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said. “This achievement reminds us that when nations heed the warnings of science, progress is possible.” WMO’s Ozone Bulletin 2024 cautioned that some of this year’s improvement reflects natural swings that cause year-to-year changes. Even so, it said the long-term trend shows clear recovery, crediting global action to phase out chemicals that destroy ozone high in the stratosphere. The bulletin also noted a slower start to depletion last September, followed by a faster rebound after the peak deficit, describing the later onset as “a robust indication of initial recovery of the Antarctic ozone hole.” Scientists measured the hole’s maximum ozone mass deficit at 46.1 million tonnes on September 29 last year, which is below the 1990 to 2020 average. The hole forms every Southern Hemisphere spring when sunlight returns to polar skies and reacts with chlorine and bromine from man-made compounds, thinning the ozone layer that shields life from harmful ultraviolet radiation. The turnaround traces back to two landmark agreements. The Vienna Convention recognised stratospheric ozone depletion as a shared problem, and the 1987 Montreal Protocol targeted the culprits, mainly chlorofluorocarbons used in refrigeration, air conditioning, foams, and aerosol sprays. According to WMO, the protocol has led to the phase-out of more than 99 percent of production and consumption of controlled ozone-depleting substances. “As a result, the ozone layer is now on track to recover to 1980s levels by the middle of this century, significantly reducing risks of skin cancer, cataracts, and ecosystem damage due to excessive UV exposure,” the bulletin said. A scientific assessment co-sponsored by WMO and the UN Environment Programme and last updated in 2022 projects different timelines by region if current policies hold. Recovery to pre-hole values is expected by around 2066 over Antarctica, by 2045 over the Arctic, and by 2040 for the rest of the world. Those dates matter for public health and ecosystems. A healthier ozone layer cuts UV exposure, which lowers risks for skin cancers and eye damage, protects crops and plankton, and supports the resilience of coastal and terrestrial habitats. The Montreal Protocol has also yielded climate benefits because many banned gases are potent greenhouse pollutants. While the new bulletin focuses on ozone rather than climate, the track record of global chemical controls shows a rare case where international rules produced measurable atmospheric change within a few decades. WMO still urges vigilance. Natural variability can widen or shrink the hole in any given year, and illegal or accidental emissions can slow progress. But the broader direction is positive, and the policies driving it are already in place and working. For Guterres, the lesson is bigger than ozone chemistry. “This achievement reminds us that when nations heed the warnings of science, progress is possible,” he said. The ozone layer’s rebound shows that coordinated policy, clear targets, and adherence over time can restore a damaged shield. If that approach holds, today’s gains could harden into a full recovery, with the Antarctic hole becoming a chapter in environmental history rather than a recurring headline.
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Humpback Whales Are Blowing ‘bubble Rings’ at Boats. Are They Trying to Communicate?
Humpback whales have long been known for their mastery of bubbles. They blast them during courtship, wield them in competition, and even weave them into massive “bubble nets” that corral fish into dense, catchable clusters. But a new study suggests there’s another, far stranger way they use air underwater: to blow perfect rings that resemble rolling smoke. The research, published in Marine Mammal Science by scientists from the University of California, Davis, the SETI Institute, and other collaborators, analyzed a dozen such events recorded across the North and South Pacific and the North Atlantic. In total, they documented 39 rings created by 11 individual humpbacks. The first clue came from an old videotape. Wildlife videographer Dan Knaub captured footage in 1988 of a humpback known as “Thorn” producing 19 bubble structures in just 10 minutes—11 of them rings. “We were just gobsmacked—like, ‘What the hell is going on?’” said Fred Sharpe, a whale biologist at UC Davis. “For a team that’s interested in assisting astrobiologists parse unusual signals coming from deep space, it just fell real neatly into our paradigm. It’s so bizarre.” The SETI Institute’s involvement isn’t as far-fetched as it sounds. The organization, famous for scanning the skies for alien signals, is also exploring how intelligence shows up in other species here on Earth. Bubble rings, strange and seemingly deliberate, fit right into that pursuit. Once alerted, researchers began noticing more examples. Jodi Frediani, a co-author and wildlife photographer at UC Davis, even spotted a faint circle in a friend’s old photograph. With the phenomenon in mind, she thought: “Gee, there’s a bubble ring!” To Susan E. Parks, a Syracuse University biologist who studies humpback bubble-net feeding but wasn’t involved in the project, the study reads “like a detective story that’s trying to piece together information about something that’s not widely studied and happens rarely.” The purpose of the rings remains a mystery. Researchers observed whales swimming through them or spy-hopping—poking their heads above the surface—right through the middle. Sometimes the behavior seemed playful, other times more curious, particularly when humans were nearby. Of the 12 documented events, nine involved whales approaching people before releasing their rings. Sharpe believes that detail may be meaningful. “This may be a species-atypical signal that’s crafted for people,” he said. “Whales reaching out to humans ... using their own parlance, their own form of communication.” Play, practice, communication, or some combination of all three—the behavior isn’t common, but it adds another dimension to the already complex lives of humpback whales. Much like the cosmic signals SETI scientists pore over, the rings may be an enigmatic message waiting to be interpreted.
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Teenagers Conquer Coast-to-Coast Journey on Unicycles, Raising Over £2,500 for Charity
Two teenagers have just pulled off one of the quirkiest cross-country challenges Britain has seen this summer: riding unicycles coast to coast. On Sunday, 18-year-old Felicity Evans and 14-year-old Jim rolled down the steep hill into Robin Hood’s Bay in North Yorkshire, completing their journey from St Bees in Cumbria. The pair had spent their weekends tackling the classic coast-to-coast route—only on one wheel each. “It’s sad the adventure has ended,” Felicity said, catching her breath after the final descent. Jim added with a grin that it felt “very good not to have to do it anymore.” The idea began when Jim received a unicycle as a gift from his local theatre director. Not long after, Felicity was given one by a neighbour. A year later, they decided that pedalling across England would be “a good idea.” They split the journey into 15 sections, covering up to 40 km in a day. The toughest stretch, Felicity recalled, was Chimney Bank in the North York Moors, one of the steepest roads in the country with a 33 percent gradient. “Jim rode nearly the whole way down. It was very steep, so a lot of walking,” she said. Their parents handled much of the planning, pouring over Ordnance Survey maps and shuttling them to and from each section. At one point, a wildfire in the North York Moors forced them to postpone, but they eventually carried on. The unusual sight of two teenagers balancing across the countryside drew plenty of reactions. “Lots of shock and people asking us what we’re doing and why we’re doing it,” Jim said. “There’s just lots of good faces people pull.” The effort wasn’t just for fun. Together they raised more than £2,500 for Unicef. “It’s definitely nice to be raising it for young people,” Felicity said. “There’s loads of stuff going on now and it’s nice to know we can try and help, even if it’s just a little bit.” Their families say the journey became an adventure for everyone involved. “Two teenage unicyclists make for a good conversation starter,” said Jim’s mum, Louise. “It has been a lot of driving and trailing around the countryside to check they hadn’t wandered off course, but we’ve enjoyed seeing new places and meeting people.” Felicity’s mother Julia said she was “extraordinarily proud” of the pair. “It’s the end of a long and fruitful journey,” she said.
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Robert Redford Remembered as an Actor and Environmentalist as Hollywood Tributes Roll In
obert Redford, the iconic actor, director, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival, passed away Tuesday morning at 89 after a career that transformed both Hollywood and independent cinema. Stephen King was among the first to respond, calling Redford “part of a new and exciting Hollywood in the ’70s and ’80s.” Critic Richard Roeper praised Redford’s body of work in a sweeping list: “A classic 1960s rom-com. An all-time great Western. A legendary caper film. An enduring survivalist tale. A spy thriller for the ages. THE greatest journalism film. A brilliant political satire. A glorious baseball fable. What a library. What a legacy. RIP Robert Redford.” Robert Redford’s legacy was not confined to Hollywood. He was also a lifelong environmental activist, using his platform to advocate for conservation and climate action. He supported renewable energy initiatives, fought against oil drilling in sensitive areas, and worked closely with organizations like the Natural Resources Defense Council. Through Sundance, he also highlighted films that tackled urgent ecological issues, making environmental advocacy as much a part of his public identity as acting and directing. Ron Howard remembered him as “a tremendously influential cultural figure for the creative choices made as an actor/producer/director & for launching the Sundance Film Festival which supercharged America’s Independent Film movement. Artistic Gamechanger.” Redford’s influence reached far beyond his own films. As founder of the Sundance Institute and Sundance Film Festival, he gave independent filmmakers a global stage. Actress Marlee Matlin credited that legacy directly: “Our film, ‘CODA,’ came to the attention of everyone because of Sundance. And Sundance happened because of Robert Redford. A genius has passed. RIP Robert.” Redford’s career was lined with accolades. He won the Academy Award for Best Director in 1980 for his debut “Ordinary People,” and was nominated for Best Actor for “The Sting.” He later earned directing and producing nominations for “Quiz Show” and received an Honorary Oscar in 2002. His awards shelf also included a BAFTA, three Golden Globes, a SAG Life Achievement Award, a Kennedy Center Honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Barack Obama, and an Honorary César. He will be remembered for iconic roles in “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” “The Sting,” “All the President’s Men,” and “The Natural,” as well as for creating space for new voices in film. Jake Tapper, William Shatner, Piers Morgan, and countless others joined the tributes, reflecting the breadth of his impact across entertainment and culture. Robert Redford leaves behind not just classic films, but an enduring legacy as one of Hollywood’s most influential figures.
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From Hobby to Legend: How This CrossFit Athlete Became the Fittest Woman on Earth
Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr didn’t set out to become the most dominant athlete in CrossFit history. But 12 years after stumbling into her first workout, the Australian mother and sporting powerhouse now holds an unprecedented eight CrossFit Games titles — two of them since giving birth to her daughter, Willow. “Words can’t describe it,” Toomey-Orr said after her latest win at the 2025 CrossFit Games in New York. “It never gets old, even after all these years.” Her journey began in 2013, when she briefly stepped away from competitive sports to focus on university. Her partner, Shane Orr, suggested she try CrossFit to complement her running. What started as a hobby turned into a full-blown career. Within a month, she entered her first CrossFit Open and by 2015, she had qualified for the CrossFit Games — finishing second in her debut year. She placed second again in 2016, but broke through in 2017 to claim her first title. Then came a streak of dominance: six consecutive wins from 2017 to 2022, setting a new standard in the sport. Toomey-Orr stepped away in 2023 to give birth to Willow, but returned the following year to win her seventh crown. Now, in 2025, she’s sealed her eighth — the most of any athlete in CrossFit history. “It’s not something I anticipated going into this journey,” she said. “It’s pretty wild and pure joy.” CrossFit Games director Dave Castro called her achievements “unprecedented.” “Tia is unprecedented. Her legacy, if she ever gets around to retiring, will be the way her dominance changed an entire sport forever,” he said. Beyond CrossFit While CrossFit is where she’s made her name, Toomey-Orr’s athletic résumé goes far beyond the sport. She competed in weightlifting at the 2016 Rio Olympics, won gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, and even qualified in the two-woman bobsleigh for the 2022 Winter Olympics — although she wasn’t ultimately selected due to rankings. Earlier this year, she also set a world record in the Women’s Doubles at HYROX Houston, an indoor fitness race known as the “World Series of Fitness Racing.” But throughout it all, her most consistent strength has been the team behind her — starting with her husband and coach, Shane Orr. “He’s been beside me every step of the way,” she said. The two met as teenagers, and Orr put aside his own ambitions as a CrossFit athlete to focus fully on coaching her. Together, they’ve built the most successful partnership the sport has ever seen. Family First, Always Since Willow’s arrival, Toomey-Orr has had to balance motherhood with her training — a challenge she openly embraces. “My life was all about the world championships and dedicating a lot of my time and energy to our craft,” she said. “I definitely think I found a challenge of juggling that parent-athlete balance and sometimes that gets put aside to be Willow’s mum, and that’s OK.” Now two years old, Willow is a regular at competitions — and even stole the show during this year’s Games. “I looked up at the jumbotron and there she is on my dad’s shoulders cheering for me,” Toomey-Orr said. “It brought a tear to my eye. It’s something I will remember forever.” Still More to Come? With eight titles under her belt, Toomey-Orr hasn’t ruled out going for a ninth — or even a tenth. “There are a lot of people trying to convince me,” she said. “The thing is, if I go for nine I’ve got to go for 10.” For now, though, she’s content staying in the moment — proud of what she’s built, grateful for the support of her family, and hopeful her story inspires others, especially parents. “At the end of the day, I could just simply stay at home and be with Willow and be a mum, but I’m still really enjoying the journey that we’re on,” she said. “If she can come along with us and spend every single day with us, as long as it’s good for her and it’s a healthy environment, that’s all that really matters.”
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A Lost Painting Looted by the Nazis was Just Found Hanging on a Wall in a Real Estate Listing
A painting stolen by the Nazis during World War II has finally been turned over to Argentine authorities — but not before a tip-off, a real estate listing, and a series of coordinated police raids. The artwork, Portrait of a Lady by 18th-century Italian painter Vittore Ghislandi, had long been missing. It was looted from Dutch Jewish art dealer Jacques Goudstikker during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. After decades of dead ends in Europe, the painting resurfaced in a most unexpected place: the wall of a living room in Argentina. A Dutch investigative outlet spotted the painting in an online real estate listing for a home in Mar del Plata, a coastal province in Argentina. The news organization contacted the real estate agency, which in turn alerted authorities. But when police arrived at the property, the painting was gone. That tip prompted four simultaneous raids last Monday across different locations in Mar del Plata. One of them targeted the home of Patricia Kadgien, daughter of Nazi official Friedrich Kadgien, who fled to Argentina in 1951 with looted assets, including currency, diamonds, and stolen or forcibly sold artworks. Kadgien had been tasked by the Nazi regime with transporting valuable goods to Switzerland, where the country’s neutrality shielded him from extradition. He eventually settled in Argentina, and according to court documents, Portrait of a Lady was among the items he brought with him. The painting had belonged to Goudstikker, who tried to hide his collection — including works by Rembrandt and Van Gogh — beneath a canal house in Amsterdam before fleeing the Nazis. But many of his artworks were discovered and either stolen outright or sold under duress. Goudstikker kept meticulous records in a black notebook, which has been key to modern-day efforts to track down and reclaim the collection. Those efforts are now being carried forward by his daughter, Marei von Saher. She’s spent years searching for more than 1,200 lost pieces. Her attorney told USA TODAY that Portrait of a Lady was likely sold to Friedrich Kadgien by the Nazis in 1944. When Argentine police arrived at Kadgien’s daughter’s house, they found a tapestry of a horse hanging where the painting had previously been. Marks on the wall and a hook suggested that a framed painting had been recently removed. During the raids, authorities seized several other artworks, some potentially dating back to the 18th century. Patricia Kadgien and her husband, Juan Carlos Cortegoso, were placed under house arrest. According to prosecutors, they may face charges for failing to voluntarily surrender the artwork. Eventually, their lawyer turned the painting over to Argentina’s National Public Prosecutor’s Office. “It is encouraging that the painting is now with the authorities and that it is no longer missing,” von Saher said in a statement. “I am relieved that it’s now in a safe and secure place.” Portrait of a Lady is just one item among an estimated $2.5 billion in artworks, jewelry, and other property looted by the Nazis in the 1940s. Today, that stolen wealth is estimated to be worth closer to $25 billion. For von Saher and other descendants of Nazi victims, recovering even a single piece offers both justice and closure. In this case, it took decades of searching, a lucky real estate listing, and an international effort — but one painting is finally back on the right path.
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Ohio Couple Celebrates 78 Years of Marriage: The Secret? No Secrets
After 78 years of marriage, Thomas and Ernestine Price still make each other smile. The couple from Columbus, Ohio recently celebrated their 78th wedding anniversary, marking a love story that began when they were just kids and has since grown to include five generations of family. They first met in 1940 when Ernestine, then 11, moved to Columbus. Thomas was already friends with her cousin, and the moment he saw her, he made a bold prediction: “I’m going to marry that girl.” They started dating as teenagers under the watchful eyes of Ernestine’s sisters and relatives, a custom at the time. Their courtship lasted through World War II, when Thomas served in the Navy. While he was overseas, the two kept in touch through handwritten letters. Ernestine was still in high school, but the distance didn’t weaken their bond. Thomas returned home in 1946. The next year, on Mother’s Day, he proposed. They were married on September 10, 1947, right on the front porch of Ernestine’s house. Together, they built a life in Columbus, raising three children—one son and two daughters. Over the years, their family grew to include nine grandchildren, 20 great-grandchildren, and 15 great-great-grandchildren. In their younger days, they loved going roller skating and to the movies. These days, their focus is on each other’s health and staying safe, spending quiet time together at home. Asked about the key to such a lasting marriage, Ernestine didn’t hesitate: “No secrets between the couple. That’s not going to work because everything comes out sooner or later.” Even now, after nearly eight decades, the love is still there. When Ernestine asked her husband if he would marry her again, Thomas replied, “Yeah.” She smiled and said, “Oh, you would? I think I’ll keep you, too. How about that?”
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There's a Secret Molecule In Guava That Could Combat Liver Cancer
Most modern medicines can trace their roots to nature, and a new discovery from the University of Delaware could add another to the list. William Chain, an associate professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and his research team have developed a way to recreate a cancer-fighting molecule found in guava fruit. Their work, published in the international journal Angewandte Chemie, could make future treatments for liver cancer more accessible and affordable. “The majority of clinically approved medicines are either made from a natural product or are based on one,” Chain said. “But there aren’t enough natural resources to make enough treatments. Now chemists will be able to take our manuscripts and basically follow our ‘recipe’ and they can make it themselves.” The breakthrough comes through a process called natural product total synthesis, which allows scientists to create naturally occurring molecules from widely available, low-cost chemicals. This means researchers no longer have to rely on harvesting rare plants for small quantities of material. The molecule in question is known to combat liver and bile duct cancers, which are among the fastest-growing cancer types worldwide. According to projections, one in 125 people globally will face a diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma, the most common type of liver cancer, during their lifetime. In the United States, more than 42,000 people are expected to be diagnosed in 2025 alone, with over 30,000 deaths. Current five-year survival rates for late-stage liver cancer are under 15 percent, and treatment costs reach into the billions each year. For Liam O’Grady, a doctoral student in Chain’s lab and the article’s first author, the significance lies in opening the door for global collaboration. “We are the first ones to pave that road, and other people can repave it any which way. Find the shortcuts if they have to. But since we entered into that unknown territory, I think we helped shed light on this unknown pathway that can get us there. And I think that’s the cool part,” he said. By publishing their synthesis pathway, the Delaware team has given scientists worldwide a practical “recipe” to mass-produce the guava-derived molecules. The team is now working with the National Cancer Institute to test the compound’s effectiveness against other forms of cancer. If successful, the research could lead to a new generation of therapies, combining the wisdom of nature with the precision of modern chemistry.