The Guardian

As a child, Marcel Mazur learned to hold his breath in parts of Kraków where the air was “so much smoke you could see and smell it.” Today, as an allergy specialist at Jagiellonian University Medical College, he treats patients harmed by those same toxins. He also knows something else, that when political leaders choose to act, the air can change.

Kraków, once known as Poland’s smog capital, has shown just how quickly a city can turn things around. A new expert assessment shared with the Guardian estimates that soot levels have dropped enough to prevent nearly 6,000 early deaths over the past decade. The shift began in 2013, when the city announced a ban on coal and wood in home heating.

Mazur’s own research reflects the impact. In 2018, cases of asthma in children were 17 percent lower than in 2008, and allergic rhinitis cases fell by 28 percent.

“It’s not that we have this feeling that nothing can be done. But it’s difficult,” Mazur told The Guardian.

For activists, the difference is undeniable. “It’s a huge improvement,” said Anna Dworakowska, co-founder and director of Polish Smog Alert, a network of campaign groups that began in Kraków and helped spark a nationwide movement for cleaner air. “Little more than 10 years ago, we had about 150 days a year with too high concentrations of particulates in Kraków. Now it’s down to 30.”

The city’s ban on burning solid fuels took effect in 2019. By then, most of the tens of thousands of outdated stoves and boilers had already been replaced. The local government subsidized the switch to cleaner heating, sometimes covering the full cost, and steadily restricted which fuels could be burned in the years leading up to the change.

Researchers from the European Clean Air Centre estimate the reduction in black carbon, a potent pollutant, saved 5,897 lives over a decade. They relied on a special monitoring station in Wrocław to measure the fraction of black carbon within Kraków’s PM2.5 pollution. Łukasz Adamkiewicz, the centre’s president, said the turnaround happened because political parties agreed to act. “Green, red, black, right, left, up, down, everyone said, ‘OK, this is a problem we need to tackle’.”

Black carbon is far more powerful than carbon dioxide in accelerating global warming and is released during the incomplete burning of fossil fuels and biomass. At the UN climate summit in November, nine countries announced plans to cut black carbon emissions. For public health, the stakes are high. “It’s a big deal,” said Rachel Huxley of the health charity Wellcome. “If we take action to tackle superpollutants, we can have this huge impact on global warming and also on all of these premature health impacts.”

Poland has already seen change. Early deaths linked to fine particulates fell by 18 percent between 2005 and 2022. Across the EU, they dropped by 45 percent.

Kraków, sitting in the coal-heavy Małopolska region, has experienced one of the most dramatic improvements. In 2024, it recorded zero breaches of daily limits for benzo(a)pyrene, a cancer-causing pollutant from burning wood and coal, for the first time since monitoring began, Polish Smog Alert reported.

More reductions are expected as the city implements a low-emissions zone that will restrict which vehicles can enter about 60 percent of Kraków.

But the work is far from finished. In late January, Kraków briefly ranked as the most polluted major city in the world, ahead of Lahore and Kolkata, according to IQAir’s list of 120 cities. Much of the problem drifts in from surrounding towns and villages, where coal and wood still dominate home heating and Kraków has no direct authority to intervene.

Mazur sees this firsthand. He has a house in Szczawnica, a small town south of Kraków, and before switching to a heat pump and gas boiler, he had to fill a coal burner three times a day and clear the ash just as often. The new system, he said, is “incomparably more convenient, and much more eco-friendly.”

“What happens in the towns and villages surrounding Kraków has a direct impact on the air quality in our city,” he said.

The opposite may now also be true. Kraków’s success has helped inspire similar policies across Poland, pushed by citizens, grassroots campaigns, and a shifting political consensus around clean air.

Experts believe the city’s story could guide other polluted regions across eastern Europe and beyond, where air pollution causes high death tolls but public pressure for action remains low.

“My experience of working with cities is you can’t do it without public support,” Huxley said. “That will either drive it, or without it you’ll be hamstrung.”

Kraków's Air Cleanup Saves Thousands Of Lives, Inspires Anti-Smog Policies Across Poland

The Cool Down

A cow running loose down a road in southwest Florida was lassoed by its owner on Tuesday, February 17, while local deputies and the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) helped keep passing vehicles at a safe distance, officials said.

Dashcam posted by the Collier County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) shows the cow’s owner on horseback, pursuing and lassoing the bovine, while an FHP patrol vehicle moves alongside him with its emergency lights flashing.

“Keeping things MOO-ving. In this line of work, things don’t always go as expected,” CCSO wrote in a Facebook post.

“On Tuesday, Cpl David Mercado was working a traffic operation to help crack down on speeding on State Road 82.  He made multiple stops all morning and issued citations when warranted. Then there was this…a rogue cow on the road,” the sheriff’s office said. “Cpl Mercado provided traffic assistance, along with FHP, while the cow’s owner safely lassoed the bovine to get it back to greener pastures.”

'Rogue Cow' Lassoed While Running Down Florida Highway

Any frustration gardeners feel toward hungry rabbits took a back seat this week after one person found something irresistible under a squash plant, four tiny baby bunnies fast asleep in a perfect little nest.

The gardener shared the photo on the r/gardening subreddit, where users quickly zoomed in to notice that three of the babies were curled up on top of a fourth. The sight was enough to turn the comments section into a chorus of delight.

“Baby bunny cuddle puddle! So precious!” one commenter wrote.

“They are so cute,” another person said. “Please let them eat whatever they want and don’t be like Mr. McGregor.” The reference, of course, was to the disgruntled gardener in Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Peter Rabbit, a character who remains the patron saint of plant protection everywhere.

The original poster reassured everyone that the nest was safe. “We get lots of bunnies around here,” they wrote. “Plan is just to leave ’em be (unless I see an injured one). It’s always best to let nature take its course.”

It also turns out the local adult rabbits have not caused much trouble for the garden either. That small detail only increased the good feeling in the thread, since gardening offers plenty of benefits beyond cute surprises. It can lower stress, boost optimism, encourage physical activity, and supply homegrown produce that is often richer in nutrients than store bought options. Environmentally, gardening helps clean air and soil, supports pollinators, prevents erosion, and reduces waste headed for landfills.

The unexpected nest became a reminder that gardens are not only for people. They are tiny ecosystems, and the wildlife that wanders through them is part of the experience. Redditors embraced the moment with jokes too. One user asked, “Where did you get baby bunny seeds??!!”

“A lucky case of wrong seed, wrong packet,” the OP replied.

Others kept it simple. “This is absolutely the cutest thing that I have ever seen,” one person wrote.

A small nest under a squash plant ended up providing the kind of surprise that makes gardening feel worth the effort, even when you have to share the space.

Homeowner Discovers Adorable Scene in Backyard: 'The Cutest Thing I Have Ever Seen'

Science Alert

A newly discovered Spinosaurus species from the Saharan desert has stunned paleontologists, not only for where it was found but for the remarkable crest adorning its skull, something never seen before in this group of dinosaurs.

Researchers have named it Spinosaurus mirabilis, the “wonderful spine lizard,” a title that feels well earned.

The find raises questions about how these dinosaurs lived. Most Spinosaurus fossils have turned up in coastal environments. This specimen came from deep inland in Niger, hundreds of kilometers from any ancient shoreline. Even the team led by Paul Sereno of the University of Chicago did not expect it.

“This find was so sudden and amazing, it was really emotional for our team,” Sereno said. “I’ll forever cherish the moment in camp when we crowded around a laptop to look at the new species for the first time… One member of our team generated 3D digital models of the bones we found to assemble the skull on solar power in the middle of the Sahara. That’s when the significance of the discovery really registered.”

The skull features spiky, interlocking teeth that echo those of modern crocodiles. Nearby sediments also held long-necked dinosaur remains, hinting at a once forested habitat with abundant rivers. Sereno said the animal may have lived a semi-aquatic life.

“I envision this dinosaur as a kind of ‘hell heron’ that had no problem wading on its sturdy legs into two meters of water but probably spent most of its time stalking shallower traps for the many large fish of the day,” he said.

The dinosaur’s elegant, scimitar-shaped crest is perhaps its most eye-catching feature. Its purpose is uncertain. The team suspects it was sheathed in keratin and could have been brightly colored, more like a toucan’s bill than a reptile’s snout. If so, it may have been a visual display.

The research appears in Science.

A New Spinosaurus Species With a Striking Crest Was Just Unearthed In The Sahara

Upworthy

A lot of people want to get better at public speaking, whether it is for work, social comfort, or just feeling more confident in everyday conversations. Classes can help and so can speech coaches, but not everyone has the time or money to access them. One communication expert says you can make real progress with something already in your pocket, your phone.

In a YouTube video, speaker and communication coach Vinh Giang suggests a daily habit that can strengthen your verbal skills, sending voice messages instead of texts. He points out that people like texting because they can review a message before sending it and correct anything unclear. Voice messages offer the same advantage.

Recording a voice note gives you a chance to hear yourself in a low pressure setting. You can re record it as many times as you want. Each time you play it back, you notice your volume, pacing, clarity, and word choice. You also become more aware of your habits. Over time, you learn what to adjust, what to work on, and what you already do well.

Speech professionals say this makes sense. Ryann Sutera, a speech pathology expert, said the process is known as self monitoring through biofeedback. “Rehearsing running speech through the use of recordings can help assess intelligibility, rate of speech, and word choice,” she said.

Public relations director Lauren Guess said her team uses the same approach. “Using voice memos as a low stakes tactic to improve communication and public speaking skills is something we find helps prep our clients for media opportunities,” she said. Many of her clients are on the move, so sending voice memos in response to questions is a practical way to build strong, usable sound bites.

Guess said this goes beyond communicating with reporters. Voice messages sharpen talking points and help clients become more confident when speaking out loud. “We prefer this approach because we find it quickly strengthens confidence in speaking on their subject matter and enhances their ability to nail their key messages, compared to submitting quotes via email or text,” she said.

For anyone hoping to become a better speaker, whether for presentations at work, community events, or even everyday conversations with friends, it may be worth trading a few typed sentences for a short recording. A simple voice message could give you the feedback you need to grow more comfortable and more effective each time you speak.

Want To Be A Better Public Speaker? Experts Say Start With A Simple Voice Message

Talker News

NYPD Harbor Unit officers pulled off a delicate rescue on the Hudson River after spotting an injured bald eagle stranded on a sheet of ice and crying out in distress. The dramatic scene was captured on body camera video, showing officers easing their patrol boat toward the struggling bird before using a pole to gently hook it and lift it safely aboard.

The department shared the moment publicly, writing, “Eagle eyed cops to the rescue. While patrolling the Hudson River earlier this morning, our Harbor Unit officers spotted an injured bald eagle floating on the ice and calling out for help. They acted quickly and brought the bird to safety.”

The bald eagle, unable to fly and surrounded by freezing water, appeared to be moments away from slipping under. Instead, the officers moved slowly and steadily, avoiding any sudden motion that might frighten the bird or push the ice outward. Once on the deck, the eagle remained alert but calm as officers secured it for transport to wildlife specialists.

The video spread quickly online, and comments poured in from people thanking the officers for stepping in.

“That was AWESOME!!!!! Please thank the gentlemen for saving that majestic bird!!” Debe Sovine wrote.

“Thank you for being Kind and Caring! Keep us updated, if you can,” Thomas Yo Slapinsky added.

Joanne Jaworski echoed the praise: “Thank you for helping this amazing creature! You guys rock!”

Bald eagles, once critically endangered in the United States, continue to be closely monitored. Injured birds require specialized care, and rescues like this often make the difference in their recovery.

The NYPD has not yet released an update on the eagle’s condition, but officers said they were hopeful as they handed it over to rehabilitators.

NYPD Officers Rescue Stranded Bird From Icy New York River

Cats may be offering scientists a surprising new route to treating breast cancer. A large international study has revealed genetic changes in feline tumors that closely mirror those found in humans, raising the possibility of shared treatments across species.

The research, published in Science, is the first large scale effort to genetically profile multiple types of cancer in domestic cats. It involved tumor samples from nearly 500 cats in five countries.

Co senior author Professor Geoffrey Wood said cancer is a major cause of illness and death in cats, yet has remained relatively uncharted. “Despite domestic cats being common pets, there was very little known about the genetics of cancer in these animals, until now,” said Wood, of the University of Guelph in Ontario. “Our household pets share the same spaces as us, meaning that they are also exposed to the same environmental factors that we are.”

The team identified several genetic driver mutations that appear to push tumor growth in cats. One of the most striking findings came from aggressive mammary cancers. More than half of the tumors carried a mutation in the FBXW7 gene. In humans, mutations in FBXW7 are linked to poorer outcomes in breast cancer, a parallel that caught the researchers’ attention.

The next most common driver gene in cat mammary carcinoma was PIK3CA, present in 47 percent of tumors. It is a familiar target in human breast cancer, where PI3K inhibitors are already used in treatment. Similar genetic overlaps appeared in blood, bone, lung, skin, gastrointestinal, and central nervous system cancers.

Because cats share their environments with their owners, the researchers say some cancer risks may also be shared. “This study can help us understand more about why cancer develops in cats and humans, how the world around us influences cancer risk, and possibly find new ways to prevent and treat it,” Wood said.

The team also tested how different chemotherapy drugs performed against tissue samples with the FBXW7 mutation. Some drugs appeared more effective in these particular tumors. While this was observed only in lab samples, the finding hints at new ways breast cancer might be treated in humans, cats, and even dogs.

Co senior author Dr. Sven Rottenberg of the University of Bern said the size of the tissue collection made an enormous difference. “Having access to such a large set of donated tissues allowed us to assess drug responses across tumor types in a way that hasn’t been possible at this scale before,” he said. “This is a powerful tool to help us identify potential novel therapeutic options that we hope will translate to the clinic one day, for both cats and humans.”

Co first author Bailey Francis, of the Wellcome Sanger Institute in Cambridgeshire, said the genetic overlap may benefit more than one species. “By comparing cancer genomics across different species, we gain a greater understanding of what causes cancer,” he said. “One of our major findings was that the genetic changes in cat cancer are similar to some that are seen in humans and dogs. This could help experts in the veterinary field as well as those studying cancer in humans, showing that when knowledge and data flows between different disciplines, we can all benefit.”

The research team sequenced DNA from diagnostic samples that veterinarians had already collected, meaning no new invasive procedures were needed.

The results suggest human cancer treatments could eventually be tested in cats. Likewise, clinical trials involving domestic cats could offer insights that guide human therapies.

Senior author Dr. Louise Van Der Weyden, also of the Wellcome Sanger Institute, called the work a major shift in understanding. “This is one of the biggest ever developments in feline oncology and means the genetics of domestic cat tumors are no longer a ‘black box’,” she said. “We can now begin to take the next steps forwards towards precision feline oncology, to catch up with the diagnostic and therapeutic options that are available for dogs with cancer, and ultimately one day, humans.”

Could Cats Hold the Key To Unlocking New Cancer Treatments?

GoodGoodGood

Billie Eilish has spent years trying to make her music career less harmful to the planet. She has toured on solar-powered stages, pushed for greener vinyl production, and worked with her mother, Maggie Baird, to shrink the environmental footprint that comes with selling millions of records. This year, she turned her attention to a different problem: unsold merch.

Working with Bravado, the merchandise arm of Universal Music Group, the two launched an effort to dig through a decade of “deadstock” that had piled up out of sight. Bravado president Matt Young told Fast Company the shirts had sat for years in storage in Nashville. He described the warehouse as something out of the final scene in “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” a place where forgotten items simply stacked up and disappeared.

Roughly 400,000 shirts were pulled from those shelves. They were shipped to Hallotex, a Spanish manufacturer that operates in Morocco, where they are being broken down and spun back into cotton yarn. The plan is to turn the old stock into about 280,000 new shirts made entirely from recycled cotton. Any leftovers that cannot be recycled will be used as housing insulation.

For Baird, the issue is bigger than a few hundred thousand shirts from old concert runs. “We are drowning in clothes on this planet, much of which is in landfills, much of which is shipped to other countries to pollute their waters and their land,” she said. She wants the industry to rethink the way merch is created in the first place. “I think we have to be extremely thoughtful about what merch gets put out in the world, why does it exist, how is it made, and what happens to it in its second life?”

The project highlights a problem most music fans never see. Tours generate enormous volumes of T-shirts, hoodies and accessories that do not always sell. Much of it sits in storage until it is quietly discarded. Eilish and Baird’s effort offers a different endpoint and a possible model for other artists.

Alongside the initiative, sustainability advocates continue to point to steps fans can take themselves. Shopping more thoughtfully, mending clothes to extend their lifespan and repurposing garments at the end of their wear are all ways to keep clothing out of landfills. It is the same principle driving Eilish’s project, just applied at home instead of in a merch warehouse.

Eilish has pushed these ideas for years, whether by experimenting with greener textiles or helping cover public transit costs for fans in Los Angeles to reduce emissions at her shows. This newest undertaking adds another layer to her reputation as someone trying to reshape what an arena-sized artist can do for the environment.

The shirts that once gathered dust in Nashville are already on their way to becoming something new. And for Eilish and Baird, that is the point. The music industry may never be waste-free, but there are better ways to deal with what gets left behind.

Billie Eilish Turns 400,000 Forgotten T-shirts Into New Merch, Aiming To Cut Music Industry Waste

USA Today

For the first time in NCAA history, women’s wrestling will crown an official national champion. The inaugural title run begins this weekend, when hundreds of wrestlers fan out to six regional sites across the country. Those who advance will head to Xtream Arena in Coralville, Iowa, next month for a championship many athletes have been waiting their entire careers to compete in.

Regionals will take place Friday through Sunday in Elmira, New York, West Liberty, West Virginia, Franklin Springs, Georgia, Tiffin, Ohio, Indianola, Iowa, and Saint Charles, Missouri. From each regional, 30 athletes will advance, the top three in each of 10 weight classes. The national tournament will feature an 18-woman bracket in every division. Fans can watch it live on ESPN+ on March 6 and 7, with finals reaired on ESPNU on March 8.

Ryan Tressel, director of championships for the NCAA, said planning the first women’s wrestling championship started about a year ago. The sport graduated from the NCAA’s Emerging Sports for Women program last January and became the 91st NCAA championship sport. A committee of six representatives from Divisions I, II and III then began shaping the blueprint for this historic tournament.

Xtream Arena is familiar territory for women’s wrestling. Before the NCAA officially recognized the sport, the venue hosted the National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Championships. Tressel and his team visited last year’s competition and left convinced it was the right place. “Xtream did a tremendous job last year and it was like, let’s build on that,” he told USA Today Sports. “It was a place where we could be confident they're going to do some great work and a great job there. It’s just the right size for what we’re going to be doing.”

For now, the championship will be combined across divisions. Iowa, one of just six Division I schools with a varsity women’s wrestling team, enters regionals as the top ranked program in the country. The Hawkeyes bring standout athletes like Reese Larramendy, who leads the nation in technical falls at 145, and Olympic silver medalist Kennedy Blades at 160.

More than 112 NCAA programs sponsor women’s wrestling at the varsity level this season. The tournament will remain combined this year and next, but in 2028, Division III will branch off into its own championship. “How that looks, that’s what we’re talking about now,” Tressel said. “Is there a way we can adjust, figure out the schedules where they're all in one spot still and they're handing out multiple trophies? We do that with rowing, for instance.”

Among the other Division I programs competing are Lehigh, Presbyterian, Delaware State, Lindenwood and Sacred Heart. Lehigh’s Audrey Jimenez enters the postseason unbeaten at 13 0 and fresh off winning gold at the 2025 Pan American Championships. There is rising talent across other divisions too, including North Central’s Bella Mir, who caught national attention after a 43-second technical fall earlier this month. Mir is the daughter of former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir.

Women’s wrestling at the NCAA level differs from men’s primarily because women compete in freestyle, the same style used in the Olympics. That means no points for escapes, and single points awarded for step outs. The rules shift creates a faster, more dynamic style of wrestling that many athletes say better reflects the sport’s global standard.

This championship also offers a window into what women’s sports could look like in the coming years. Tressel said the NCAA will focus closely on the student-athlete experience and operational details like mat flow and floor access as they refine the event. Women’s wrestling joined the Emerging Sports for Women program in 2020. Just three years later, more than 40 schools had added teams, leading to its championship status in 2025.

A similar path may be ahead for women’s flag football, which entered the Emerging Sports program this year. “(NCAA President Charlie Baker) is really excited about this. It’s starting this excitement, which is what I’ve felt,” Tressel said. “You know, what's the future hold for other emerging sports out there too, with women's flag football coming on? There’s a lot of great opportunities coming up for women's sports in the next number of years.”

This weekend marks the first real step toward awarding an NCAA title that generations of female wrestlers never had the chance to chase. Now that the door is open, and for hundreds of athletes across six regionals, the path to history begins.

NCAA Launches First Ever Women’s Wrestling Championship, Marking a Major Milestone for the Sport

Good News Network

For centuries, Armenia’s “dragon stones” have stood alone in the country’s high mountain passes, carved with the shapes of fish or stretched cowhide and weighing as much as 8 tons. They are older than many of the monuments that tend to dominate conversations about ancient engineering. They were raised between 4200 and 4000 BCE, roughly the same era as Stonehenge, and they have remained one of Armenia’s most enduring mysteries.

Only now has the first detailed national analysis been completed. A research team from the Yerevan State University Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography set out to understand what these monoliths meant and why they were built in such unforgiving terrain. The project offered answers, but also a few moments when the stones did not behave the way the archaeological logic suggested they should.

Dozens of vishaps have been identified across Armenia’s western highlands. Forty-three sit in the Geghema Mountains, 36 along the slopes of Mount Aragats, and 17 in the Vardenis Mountains. Others appear outside this central belt, but the builders seemed focused on this mountainous spine.

Their placement has long puzzled researchers. The stones stand at extreme elevations, some at nearly 2,750 meters above sea level, in areas covered in snow for seven months of the year. The team expected that the higher the location, the smaller and lighter the stones would be, simply because the work would be harder the higher they went. “Larger vishaps would necessitate greater processing time, especially in regions where the duration of the snow-free period decreases with increasing altitude,” the team wrote.

The results did not match the hypothesis. There was no link between the size of the monuments and their elevation. Some of the largest stones, more than 2.7 meters tall and weighing over 7 tons, were found at the highest altitudes. Not only would carving and shaping them have been a major undertaking, but hauling and raising them in such conditions would have pushed the limits of Neolithic communities.

The clue that offered the most promise had nothing to do with altitude. It had to do with water. The fish-shaped stones often sit beside mountain springs, and the cowhide-shaped stones are more likely to appear in lower valleys where ancient irrigation channels once ran. These same valleys later hosted medieval churches, fortresses and settlements. The researchers believe the vishaps may have marked a water cult, or at least a cultural reverence for the springs and snowmelt that sustained life in the region.

This theory lines up with how other ancient societies used monumental stone projects. The work required to carve, move and lift stones of this scale usually meant more than aesthetics. Raising them became a shared effort that reinforced identity, community and a sense of belonging to the land. The stones themselves became markers of place. If they stood there, it meant the people stood there too.

Future civilizations recognized something important in these stones as well. The Urartians, neighbors of the Babylonians and Assyrians, carved their cuneiform alphabet into them. Early Christian communities carved crosses. Each group added a layer of meaning to monuments that had already outlived their original builders by thousands of years.

The new survey does not fully answer the question of why Neolithic Armenians committed so much labour to these remote sites, but it gives shape to a possibility. The stones may have been more than markers or offerings. They may have been declarations. They said the land was theirs, that the water mattered, and that the people who carved the vishaps belonged to the mountains as much as the springs that flowed from them.

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