The Guardian

Less than a year after the Palisades fire scorched thousands of homes across Los Angeles, the first fully rebuilt house is ready for new life.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass announced Friday that the Department of Building and Safety had officially certified the home for occupancy, calling the milestone “an important moment of hope.”

“The Palisades community has been through an unimaginable year, and my heart breaks for every family that won’t be able to be home this holiday season,” Bass said. “But today is an important moment of hope. The City of Los Angeles remains committed to expediting every aspect of the rebuilding process, until every family is back home.”

The new home, located in Pacific Palisades, spans nearly 4,000 square feet with four bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms. It replaces a 1,600-square-foot ranch-style house that was destroyed during the January fire.

Fire-resistant upgrades are part of the design, including closed eaves to block ember intrusion and pre-installed plumbing for a fire-defense system capable of coating the home with water or retardant if flames approach.

A public tour of the home is scheduled for December 6, giving community members a first-hand look at the rebuild.

According to the Los Angeles Times, about 2,000 rebuilding permits have been issued so far across the Palisades and Eaton fire zones. While only one full home has been completed in Pacific Palisades, hundreds of projects are underway—roughly 340 are currently under construction in that neighborhood alone.

In nearby Altadena, another structure has also been certified: a 630-square-foot accessory dwelling unit (ADU), which replaced a garage lost in the Eaton fire. The main house on the property survived.

City officials say recovery is happening at different speeds depending on location, damage severity, and complexity of permits. But with over 2,500 property owners in Los Angeles city and county submitting full rebuilding applications—and more than 1,100 of those already approved—there are signs of momentum.

In total, the Palisades and Eaton fires destroyed more than 13,000 homes. For many, rebuilding is just beginning. For one family in Pacific Palisades, however, this week marked the end of a long road—and the start of a new chapter.

Pacific Palisades Celebrates Rebuilt Home After Devastating LA Fires

People

For the first time since 2016, Zoo Knoxville is celebrating the birth of a Western lowland gorilla — a hopeful moment for one of the most critically endangered primate species on Earth.

The newborn arrived just after 8 a.m. on November 19 to 27-year-old Kumi, who joined the Tennessee zoo in 2024. It’s her first baby with silverback Bantu and her first birth since arriving at the zoo.

Zoo staff shared the news on social media with a short video of Kumi cradling her newborn, writing, “KUMI’S BABY IS HERE!” The post quickly racked up thousands of views and comments from followers thrilled by the arrival.

“Kumi has been calm, attentive and doing everything exactly as a new mom should,” a zoo spokesperson told News 6. In a follow-up post, the zoo said Kumi’s baby has already begun gentle introductions to the rest of the troop and that staff are taking a hands-off approach, allowing mom and baby to bond naturally.

“We can’t stop staring at this little face,” the zoo captioned the post.

Western lowland gorillas are critically endangered, with populations dropping more than 60 percent in the last 20 to 25 years, according to the World Wildlife Fund. The animals live in dense tropical forests in parts of Central Africa, making accurate population estimates difficult. The biggest threats to their survival are poaching and disease. Even under ideal conditions, conservation scientists estimate it would take about 75 years for the species to recover.

In a statement, Zoo Knoxville President and CEO Bill Street called the birth “a new hope for the future of this critically endangered species.” He added, “This new arrival is an important step forward for Western lowland gorillas.”

Zoo Knoxville is part of a network of accredited zoos working to maintain healthy, genetically diverse gorilla populations in human care. Breeding programs like this one are designed to support conservation efforts and help ensure the species’ long-term survival.

The baby’s name and sex have not yet been revealed, but early signs point to a healthy, thriving start.

For now, Kumi and her newborn are keeping close. As one zoo update put it: “Both Kumi and her newborn are doing well.”

Tennessee Zoo Welcomes First Baby Gorilla Born in Nearly a Decade

The Cool Down

Shoppers in France can now stock their carts and cut down on future trash, thanks to a new large-scale rollout of reusable grocery packaging.

A system called The Loop, created by U.S.-based waste management company TerraCycle, has officially launched across 345 Carrefour supermarkets in France. Instead of relying on traditional single-use plastic or cardboard packaging, the initiative offers everyday products in durable, reusable containers made of aluminum or plastic.

Customers buy products as usual, but instead of tossing the packaging when they’re done, they simply return the containers—clean or dirty—on their next shopping trip. From there, the containers are cleaned and refilled for reuse.

“The deployment of a reusable packaging system at this scale demonstrates the logistical feasibility of integrating reuse into mainstream retail operations,” said Zac Jenkins, Membership Manager at ThePackHub, which reported on the initiative.

The launch marks The Loop’s first entrance into a major commercial grocery setting. It’s now handling packaging for a wide variety of food, beverage, and household goods, and additional retail partners beyond Carrefour are already participating—making it easier for customers to return empties at multiple locations.

The concept is rooted in the old-school model of milk bottle deliveries, where the container went back and forth instead of straight into the garbage. TerraCycle describes the system as a return to “simpler, waste-free times,” where packaging wasn’t synonymous with waste.

While returning empty containers might seem like an extra chore, it’s a straightforward swap for taking out the trash. The upside? Less landfill-bound plastic and more economic value retained through circular reuse.

Analysts say wide-scale adoption of circular packaging could return millions of dollars back into national economies—along with the environmental benefit of slashing single-use plastics.

With global pressure mounting on both governments and corporations to curb packaging waste, France’s Loop experiment could serve as a test case for how reuse might actually work on a grocery aisle level.

French Shoppers Say They're Embracing Reusable Packaging in Major Supermarkets

NBC News

A group of teachers in British Columbia is being credited with preventing a deadly outcome after a grizzly bear charged a class of elementary school students during an outing near Bella Coola. Officials said their quick use of bear spray and bear bangers likely stopped the attack from becoming far more severe.

BC Emergency Health Services said two people were critically injured, two were seriously injured and seven others were treated at the scene on Thursday afternoon. At a news conference Friday, Tamara Davidson, the province’s minister of environment and parks, said that three children and one adult remained hospitalized. Families declined to release updated conditions.

“I want to recognize the teachers who took great risk to protect their students,” Davidson said. “Their actions deserve our greatest respect and gratitude. They were well prepared, and they are the true heroes.”

The attack happened when a single grizzly emerged from the forest along a trail where the group had stopped. Kevin Van Damme of the BC Conservation Officer Service said the teachers’ actions made a critical difference. “Teachers put themselves in harm’s way to protect the children,” he said. “They definitely avoided worse injuries.”

He explained that the group used bear spray and bear bangers to repel the animal. Authorities collected evidence from the site as they worked to identify and capture the bear. Residents and visitors were urged to remain indoors. “I really need to stress how dangerous this situation is with this bear at large,” Van Damme said. Later he added, “I have not seen an attack like this with a large group of people,” calling an incident involving more than a dozen people “extremely rare.”

The Nuxalk Nation, whose territory includes Bella Coola and the surrounding valley, asked the community to “avoid all trails.” Acwsalcta School, run by the Nuxalk Nation, said it would remain closed Monday and that counseling support would be available.

Parent Veronica Schooner told the Associated Press that one teacher “got the whole brunt of it” and was taken to hospital. Her 10 year old son Alvarez was close enough to the bear that “he even felt its fur.” She said, “He said that bear ran so close to him, but it was going after somebody else.” Some children, she added, were hit with the bear spray during the struggle.

The British Columbia Assembly of First Nations said the attack should prompt a closer look at safety planning. “This event raises important questions about safety protocols, community preparedness and the respect for First Nations’ knowledge in managing wildlife,” the organization said, expressing support for the Nuxalk Nation.

The B.C. Wildlife Federation linked the attack to a 2017 ban on grizzly hunting, arguing that it led to an increase in bear reports. “With no hunting pressure, grizzlies and humans will increasingly occupy the same spaces with inevitable consequences,” the group’s executive director, Jesse Zeman, said.

Asked whether the province would revisit the ban, Davidson said that discussion was premature. “This is an ongoing live situation where the bear is still at large and the community doesn’t feel safe,” she said. “No considerations just yet.”

She added that her ministry hopes families “experience healing and comfort in the coming days.”

Hero Teachers Fend Off Grizzly Attack, Protect Students on Canada Walking Trail

Good News Network

A small iron razor that once helped Romans stay clean shaven is heading to auction in England, and the piece comes with a surprisingly rich story about grooming habits across the empire. The blade is about 9 cm long, built with a hole for a finger grip so the shaver could pull it across the face. It could also be hooked onto a belt for quick access when a customer sat down.
“I’m not sure how close a shave you would get, but imagine if it could talk,” said Charles Hanson, the auctioneer handling the sale. “Think of all the ancient chins it was used on and the stories their owners could tell. It truly is a remarkable piece of ancient history.”
The razor reflects what was once a clear marker of status. For wealthy Romans, being clean shaven signaled refinement and urbanitas, a trait linked to polite, city life. Busts and coins of the period show how widespread the look was. Most well known figures of the late Republic and early empire appear without facial hair, including Julius Caesar, Pompey, Sulla, Gaius Marius, Scipio Africanus, Cato the Elder, Cato the Younger, Crassus, Marcus Antonius, Cicero, Cassius and an entire line of emperors from Augustus to Domitian.
Hadrian shifted the fashion when he grew a beard, and the emperors who followed often did the same. Even so, the razor remained essential for many men, though not everyone felt safe using one. Entrusting a stranger with a sharp blade was risky in a political culture where assassinations were common.
“Dionysus was so afraid of trusting a barber he made his daughters learn how to shave him,” said Hansons Auctioneers historical consultant, Simon Bartley. He added that “Emperor Domitian banned razors from being drawn in the middle of a dense crowd, and barbers from practicing in public places.”
Roman razors, known as novacilae, varied in shape and design. Bartley describes the one now up for auction as “a stunning example in beautiful condition which isn’t often seen outside a private collection.”
The role of shaving stretched far beyond daily routine. The first shave, usually around age 21, marked an important rite of passage known as depositio barbae, a moment that symbolized the shift from adolescence to adulthood. Before that, young men let their facial hair grow freely, waiting until a visible beard appeared. In some families the trimming of that first beard was a small ceremony, and the hair was offered to the gods. Nero wrote about doing exactly that in his autobiography.
Tools evolved as well. Early razors like the one in this sale were eventually followed by a more complex device called a forfex, made of two iron blades joined in a horseshoe shape. It was an early form of the modern tool used today.
Two thousand years later, a simple iron blade offers a look at the routines, rituals and anxieties of everyday Roman life. It is a reminder that grooming was a serious business, and sometimes a risky one, for the people who shaped an empire.

Ancient Roman Razor Discovered, Set For Auction

BBC News

A non-league football club in Worcestershire is putting community before commerce, giving up its match sponsorship to support a stem cell donor drive for a local teenager battling leukaemia.

Bromsgrove Sporting FC, based in the town of Bromsgrove, has chosen to forgo commercial sponsorship for their upcoming match against Kettering Town this Saturday. Instead, they’ll use the platform to promote a donor registration event in support of 16-year-old Leo, who is in urgent need of a stem cell transplant.

“For patients with blood cancer like Leo, a stem cell transplant from a matching donor can be the only opportunity for recovery,” the club said in a statement.

Leo has been in hospital for the past eight weeks. His dad, Warren, says the family is doing everything they can while working with the blood cancer charity DKMS to find a match. "He's doing okay, he has his good days and his bad days," Warren said. "Generally, on the whole, he's quite chipper about things and he's quite talkative."

The donor drive, organized by DKMS, will take place on Saturday, 23 November, at St Godwald’s Church Hall in Bromsgrove from 13:00 to 18:00 GMT. Attendees will be asked to provide a simple cheek swab to see if they’re a match for Leo or someone else in need.

Warren, who has already registered himself, said the process was quick and easy. “It takes literally six minutes. It's three swabs — one around your left cheek, one around your right cheek, and one around the inside of your lips,” he explained.

Max Banner, media officer at Bromsgrove Sporting, said the decision to promote the donor drive was a no-brainer. “As a club, we need to be seen to be doing everything we can for the community,” he said. “You see something like this and you think it’s the least we could do with the exposure and reach we have as a club. Who knows, we could make all the difference.”

Instead of commercial ads, Saturday’s match will be used to spread awareness about stem cell donation and encourage fans to attend the drive.

For Leo and his family, that difference could mean everything.

This Football Club Donated Its Match Sponsorship To a Stem Cell Donor Drive For a Local Teen

ABC News

In Philadelphia, over 300 people gathered at Citizens Bank Park on Thursday night for a cause that hits home for many in the city. They weren't there to catch a game, but to participate in a "sleep out" event supporting youth facing homelessness. Former Phillies players and locals alike gave up their usual comforts for a night of solidarity and awareness.

Larry Bowa, former Phillies manager, joined the event with empathy. "We only do it for a night," he said, reflecting on the challenges faced by homeless youth year-round. "I can't imagine some of these young adults doing this 365 days, and I feel sorry for them."

Megan McGowan, one of the participants who raised over $21,000, emphasized the impact of understanding these struggles firsthand. "It's so nice to be able to give back and help and really learn and understand what they've gone through," she shared.

The Phillies teamed up with Covenant House Pennsylvania, an organization dedicated to providing shelter and services for homeless and trafficked youth. This collaboration aimed not just to raise funds but also to increase awareness about the issue. By hosting the event at a major league baseball field—the first team ever to do so—the initiative garnered significant attention, making it the largest event of its kind in Pennsylvania since 2011.

Phillies CEO John Middleton highlighted the role athletes can play in spotlighting pressing social issues. "The athletes have special platforms and help raise awareness of important issues," he noted.

This year's "Sleep Out" successfully raised over one million dollars for more than 10,000 young people experiencing homelessness in Philadelphia. Covenant House President Bill Bedrossian explained how these funds will be utilized: "It's going to be able to help house thousands of young people in this coming year, but also give them the opportunity to thrive through educational and employment programs."

Whitney Moore knows firsthand how crucial support from organizations like Covenant House can be. She lived there as a teenage mother and credits them with helping her focus on education while being a mom. "If it hadn't been for them, I don't know where myself and my family would be," Moore reflected.

Cole Hamels, another former player who participated in the sleep out, spoke about instilling hope in those struggling with homelessness. "Give them a little bit of hope to fight another day," he urged.

The community's commitment was clear throughout the evening as they braved chilly temperatures together until sunrise on Friday morning when the sleep out officially ended.

Phillies Host First-Ever "Sleep Out" Event, Raise Over $1M

GoodGoodGood

Scientists may have found an unlikely ally in the fight against climate change — and it's a microscopic blob affectionately dubbed Chonkus.

Officially known as UTEX 3222, the fast-growing cyanobacterium was discovered off the coast of Sicily by microbiologist Braden Tierney and his team, who were collecting seawater samples near deep-sea volcanic vents. The organism caught their attention not just for its carbon-guzzling abilities, but for how unusually dense it is.

“When you grow a culture of bacteria, it looks like broth and the bacteria are very dilute,” said Max Schubert, a researcher on the team. “But we found that Chonkus would settle into this stuff that is much more dense — like a green peanut butter.”

That unusual consistency isn’t just a curiosity. It could make Chonkus particularly efficient at capturing carbon. The organism uses specialized internal compartments to absorb light and carbon dioxide — key ingredients for photosynthesis and potentially powerful tools in carbon sequestration.

The research is still in early stages, but Tierney and Schubert believe Chonkus could eventually play a role in engineered carbon capture systems. And with less than 0.01% of Earth’s microbes identified and studied, the potential for more climate-friendly discoveries is enormous.

“There’s more and more excitement about isolating new organisms,” Tierney told Grist. “They don’t represent the true arsenal of microbes that we could potentially work with to achieve humanity’s goals.”

The discovery was supported by the scientific nonprofit Align to Innovate, which helped identify the bacteria after initial collection.

As research continues, Chonkus may prove to be more than just a fun nickname — it might be a key player in cleaning up the planet.

Scientists Discover "Chonkus," A Potential Ally In Carbon Emission Cleanup

A family in Montclair, New Jersey, just experienced the kind of reunion most pet owners dream about but rarely get. Ten years after their kitten slipped out of a window and vanished, the cat has returned, thanks to a microchip and the persistence of a stranger who decided to help.

The family had adopted two kittens from a shelter a decade ago. Not long after, one of them, a cat named Asa, escaped. They searched the neighborhood daily, put up signs and held onto hope for as long as they could. After weeks turned into months, they assumed Asa was gone for good. Eventually they moved to upstate New York, still carrying the memory of the missing kitten with them.

The story took an unexpected turn when a good Samaritan found a full grown cat wandering and brought her to an animal shelter to be scanned. The staff checked for a microchip and found a phone number still registered to Asa’s original family. The call that followed was the kind most shelters hope to make. After years of wondering, the family learned their long lost cat was alive.

They drove straight to the shelter to pick her up, thrilled to see the pet they once assumed they would never find again. It is unclear where Asa has been for the past decade or how she survived, but what mattered to the family was simple: she was safe, healthy and back in their arms.

The shelter, celebrating the reunion, also noted that it is facing a shortage of cat food. With more families needing help feeding their pets, staff are asking for donations to support households struggling to keep animals fed. The request comes as shelters across the country continue to see high intake numbers and rising costs of care.

Asa’s return highlights the value of microchipping, a simple procedure that often makes the difference between a lost pet staying lost and a story like this one. It also offered a rare moment of joy for shelter workers who see far more separations than reunions.

For the family, the ending was better than anything they expected. After ten years and a move to a new state, Asa walked back into their lives, proving that even after a decade, some pets still find their way home.

New Jersey Family Reunites With Kitten Lost 10 Years Ago

Smithsonian Magazine

Two newly authenticated organ pieces by a young Johann Sebastian Bach were performed publicly this week for the first time in over 300 years, offering a rare glimpse into the early genius of one of classical music’s most revered composers.

An audience gathered inside Leipzig’s historic St. Thomas Church — where Bach is buried — to hear the debut of Chaconne in D minor, BWV 1178 and Chaconne in G minor, BWV 1179. The performance was led by renowned Dutch conductor and organist Ton Koopman.

The two compositions had been hiding in plain sight since 1992, when Peter Wollny, now director of the Bach Archive in Leipzig, stumbled upon unsigned and undated manuscripts while researching in the Royal Library of Belgium. Even then, as a graduate student, he felt there was something special about the music.

“They were so strikingly original that I had copies made and set them aside,” Wollny told The New York Times. Though the handwriting didn’t belong to Bach, Wollny suspected the pieces were his, describing them as “highly individual” and “complex.”

The two pieces are chaconnes, a form built around a short, repeating bass line. Bach would have been around 20 years old when he wrote them — early in his career as an organist in the German town of Arnstadt.

For years, Wollny couldn’t definitively prove the works were Bach’s. Then, a key breakthrough came from colleague Bernd Koska, who uncovered a 1729 job application in a Thuringian church archive. The writer, Salomon Günther John, described himself as a former student of Bach during the Arnstadt years. That detail helped Wollny trace other documents penned by John — and match his handwriting to the mysterious manuscripts.

With the scribe now identified and the timing lined up with Bach’s early teaching period, Wollny concluded that John had likely copied the compositions while studying under Bach around 1705. He presented the findings to fellow scholars who maintain the official Bach catalog, and they agreed: the two chaconnes were indeed genuine works of J.S. Bach.

Ton Koopman said he was unaware of the research until Wollny called him earlier this year. “He said, ‘You know, I think I found two pieces by Bach. Would you be willing to perform them the first time?’” Koopman recalled. “When I played them through, I said, ‘He is completely right.’”

“You analyze the pieces and you see that [they] can only be a great composer,” he added. “It’s daring music. It’s someone who knows what harmony is.”

Canadian pianist and Bach specialist Angela Hewitt also reviewed the pieces and agreed. “For me they are quite identifiable with Bach’s early style, in which the contrapuntal writing is not yet what it would become, but the imagination, grandeur and sheer joy in playing are all there in abundance,” she told The Guardian.

The discovery adds two more entries to the over 1,000 surviving works of Bach, whose prolific output shaped the future of Western music. But many of his compositions have been lost to history, making any addition — especially one with such a dramatic backstory — a major event in the classical world.

Bach’s brilliance was evident from a young age. After being orphaned, he learned keyboard from his older brother, and by his schoolboy years was composing some of the most technically demanding organ music of his time. Koopman said the new chaconnes reflect that early ambition. “It’s not student music. It’s Bach music.”

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