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Muslim Communities Are Preparing For The First Ramadan Together After Covid
Ramadan is expected to begin Saturday based on the sighting of the new moon. Muslims across the globe will observe a period of daily fasting from dawn until sunset. In homes around the world, families and friends will gather to reflect, break their fasts and celebrate with a shared meal known as an iftar.
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Animal Experts Rescued an Entangled Whale Amid 45 MPH Winds; Most Challenging Mission Of The Season
Rescuers in Australia have freed a humpback whale that became tangled in a fishing line and thick rope off the coast of South Golden Beach. The operation unfolded on September 11 after a member of the public spotted the animal “in a compromised state” and alerted the Organisation for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans in Australia (ORRCA). The group then called in the Sea World Foundation and Marine Rescue Brunswick Heads to assist. When crews reached the whale, they saw the rope wrapped tightly around its tail. Initial attempts to lasso and pull it free didn’t work, made even harder by strong winds gusting up to 40 knots. The team then deployed a buoy to stabilize the situation and give rescuers closer access to cut through the line. After about an hour of work, the rope was finally cut loose and the whale swam away. Despite the difficult conditions, rescuers said the animal stayed calm throughout the effort. “Yeah, that final cut, all the gear comes off, it’s always a great feeling, even more so today,” Sea World Foundation skipper Andy Mulville told 9 News. The foundation described it as their most challenging rescue of the season. Entanglements remain a deadly threat to marine life, with the International Whaling Commission estimating that around 300,000 whales and dolphins die every year from becoming caught in fishing equipment. This time, the whale was one of the lucky ones.
Score (96)
NASA Confirms Discovery Of 6,000 Exoplanets, Heralds New Era Of Exploration
NASA’s list of known exoplanets just hit a major milestone: 6,000 confirmed worlds beyond our solar system. The agency announced the news on September 17, noting that only three years ago the count was at 5,000. With more than 8,000 additional candidates still awaiting confirmation, the pace of discovery appears to be accelerating. “We’re entering the next great chapter of exploration — worlds beyond our imagination,” a narrator says in a NASA video marking the occasion. The announcement comes near the anniversary of one of astronomy’s biggest breakthroughs. On October 6, 1995, astronomers Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz confirmed the first planet orbiting a sun-like star: 51 Pegasi b, a gas giant about 0.64 times the mass of Jupiter and 50 light-years away. Earlier discoveries had been made around pulsars, but 51 Pegasi b was the first “normal” exoplanet detection. Unlike that landmark moment, there’s no single “6,000th” exoplanet. “Confirmed planets are added to the count on a rolling basis by scientists from around the world, so no single planet is considered the 6,000th entry,” NASA explained. Still, one of the newest additions is KMT-2023-BLG-1896L b, a Neptune-like planet with about 16 times the mass of Earth. NASA’s telescopes are behind much of the growing list. The Kepler Space Telescope, retired in 2018, identified more than 2,600 planets, while the still-active Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) has confirmed nearly 700 so far. The catalog spans an astonishing variety. Of the 6,007 exoplanets confirmed as of this week, 2,035 are Neptune-like, 1,984 are gas giants, and 1,761 are super-Earths — planets larger than Earth but lighter than Neptune. There are also about 700 rocky worlds and seven classified as “unknown.” Each one represents an entirely new world, and in some cases, they defy imagination. Astronomers have found planets with molten surfaces, ones racing through space at 1.6 million kilometers per hour, and even a diamond-like planet capable of regenerating its atmosphere. “Each of the different types of planets we discover gives us information about the conditions under which planets can form and, ultimately, how common planets like Earth might be, and where we should be looking for them,” said Dawn Gelino, who leads NASA’s Exoplanet Exploration Program at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “If we want to find out if we’re alone in the universe, all of this knowledge is essential.” For all the discoveries, one remains elusive. As NASA’s video puts it: “There’s one we haven’t found — a planet just like ours.” At least, not yet.
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Score (96)
‘God is Blessing Me So I Can Bless Others’: Woman Wins Lottery, Donates Entire Prize to Charities
Carrie Edwards could have kept her lottery winnings for herself. Instead, she gave all of it away. The Virginia woman won $150,000 in the September 8 Powerball drawing after matching four of the first five numbers plus the Powerball number. Normally that pays out $50,000, but because Edwards had paid an extra dollar for the Power Play option, her winnings tripled. On Tuesday she collected her prize and immediately donated the entire sum in three $50,000 gifts. The first went to the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration, in honor of her late husband Steve, who died from the disorder. “This cause is deeply personal,” Edwards said. “During World FTD Awareness Month, I wanted this gift to shine a light on the families who are fighting this disease and on the researchers working toward a cure. God is blessing me so I can bless others through him.” Her second donation went to Shalom Farms, a nonprofit in Richmond that promotes food justice and sustainable farming. The third supported the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society, which helps active-duty members, veterans, and their families with financial, educational, and emergency assistance. “These three organizations represent healing, service, and community,” she said. “Shalom Farms heals through food and soil, AFTD brings hope through research, and the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society carries forward the tradition of supporting military families in times of need.” By parting with her entire prize, Edwards said she wanted her windfall to serve as an example. “I feel blessed that this unexpected lottery win can serve a greater purpose,” she said.
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Colossal Biosciences Achieves Breakthrough in Dodo De-Extinction Efforts, Predicts Return Within 7 Years
Colossal Biosciences says it has crossed one of the biggest hurdles yet in its quest to bring back the extinct dodo bird. The Texas-based company announced on September 17 that its scientists successfully cultured pigeon primordial germ cells, or PGCs, the reproductive precursors needed to recreate extinct bird species. Until now, this kind of breakthrough had only been achieved in chickens and geese. “Only three bird species have ever had [PGC culture conditions], and now pigeons,” said Ben Lamm, Colossal’s co-founder and CEO. “It’s very, very hard to do, and we did this in 18 months, so this was a very, very big step. This was a huge technology unlock for the dodo.” Culturing PGCs not only pushes avian science forward, it also lets Colossal put a timeline on its most high-profile project. “We couldn’t tell people [if] dodos are going to take 20 years to bring back or 30 years to bring back until we got to this PGC,” Lamm said. “Now that we’ve got to PGCs, we are confident that in the next five to seven years we can see a dodo.” The announcement came alongside news of another $120 million in funding, pushing Colossal’s total to $555 million and raising its valuation to over $10 billion. With the new resources, the company is expanding its Avian Genetics Group, investing in genome sequencing, and building out conservation programs beyond the dodo. On Mauritius, where the dodo lived before it was hunted to extinction in the 17th century, Colossal has formed the Mauritius Dodo Advisory Committee to guide cultural and ecological efforts. “This journey is more than reviving a lost species — it is about honoring our island’s unique heritage,” said Devina Lobine, a research officer with the Mauritius Institute of Biotechnology and chair of the committee. The dodo project is not Colossal’s only venture. Its dire wolf initiative, launched earlier this year, has already produced three wolves — Romulus, Remus, and Khaleesi — now living on a 2,000-acre preserve. The animals have shifted from being hand-fed to forming a natural pack, with Remus showing signs of becoming the alpha. “They’re behaving more and more like wolves, less like animals raised by humans,” Lamm said. While future generations of dire wolves could be reintroduced into larger preserves, the current pack will remain in managed care. For Colossal’s team, seeing instincts return to animals long extinct is a powerful validation of their work. Not everyone shares the enthusiasm. De-extinction projects raise questions about animal welfare, ecological risks, and the ethics of reviving species for uncertain futures. But Colossal’s chief science officer, Beth Shapiro, argues that those debates are part of the point. “Colossal is a de-extinction company, but we’re a species preservation company,” she said. “We are interested in developing technologies that we can use to make entire ecosystems more resilient… One of the ways to do that is to restore species that used to be there.” She points to Yellowstone as a case study: when wolves were reintroduced, entire landscapes shifted. “We don’t know exactly what the dodo’s role was in Mauritius,” Shapiro added, “but putting these pieces back can help ecosystems recover in ways we can’t yet predict.” For Lamm, education is as central to the mission as science itself. “What we’re doing is complicated — sometimes exciting, sometimes scary,” he said. “The only way to make science cool again, like NASA was for me as a kid, is to have all the hard conversations and bring people along for the ride.” Teachers have already told Shapiro that students inspired by Colossal’s work are shifting ambitions — some moving from wanting to be influencers to wanting to become genome engineers. “That’s winning,” she said. With projects spanning dodos, dire wolves, mammoths, and moas, Colossal’s ambitions extend well beyond a single species. For Lamm and Shapiro, the return of the dodo is not just a headline but a signal of what conservation could become. “It’s a massive development, a massive unlock,” Lamm said. “And it’s just the beginning.”
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This Endangered Bonobo Baby Was Just Born In an 'Extraordinary Moment' for the Species
A zoo in Leicestershire has announced the birth of a rare bonobo, an ape regarded as the closest living relative to humans. Twycross Zoo said the infant was delivered safely on 11 September to first-time mother Yuli. Bonobos share around 98.7 percent of their DNA with humans but are classed as endangered, with fewer than 20,000 remaining in the wild. Dr Rebecca Biddle, the zoo’s chief conservation officer, described the birth as a “truly extraordinary moment.” She added: “Bonobos are humans’ closest living relatives, yet they remain one of the most endangered and least understood apes on Earth. Every birth is a true milestone and a powerful reminder of what can be achieved when zoos work together.” Twycross is the only zoo in the UK to care for the species and looks after 10 percent of the entire European bonobo population through a conservation programme. Yuli arrived from Vallée des Singes in France in 2023 as part of that effort. The programme is designed to build healthy zoo populations while wild bonobos in the Democratic Republic of the Congo continue to face severe threats from poaching and deforestation. Dr Biddle said the new arrival showed the importance of collaboration. “It is only through the dedication, expertise, and collaboration of conservation zoos that moments like this are possible,” she said. The zoo hopes the birth will inspire visitors to learn more about bonobos, one of the least studied great apes, and the challenges they face in the wild.
Score (98)
Why This Small Town Shop is Delivering 1,000 Kindness Cards to Brighten Spirits
A shop in Wiltshire, UK, is using handwritten kindness to brighten lives this week. Highworth Emporium has launched a project to coincide with both Thinking of You Week and the town’s volunteer week. Customers are invited to pick up a free card in the store, write an uplifting message, and leave it for delivery to people who may be feeling lonely. The goal is to send out 1,000 cards to care homes, hospices, hospitals, and households across Highworth and nearby villages. “Something as simple as a handwritten card can have such a powerful emotional impact,” said shop owner Aga Marsden. “It reminds people that they are cared for and that they are not forgotten. We hope this project spreads a little extra joy and kindness across our community.” Local scouts are helping with deliveries, while schools have written hundreds of cards. Southfield Junior School’s head teacher, Kimberley O’Sullivan, said it was an ideal way for children to learn the impact of small acts of kindness. “The children often write me handwritten notes or draw me little pictures and I thought it was such a great way for the children to spread happiness beyond our school,” she said. Nine-year-old Martha captured the spirit of the project: “Good things come in small packages and a card is like a small package of happiness.” Loraine Haines, who works at the shop, said the idea had been embraced by locals. “The majority of people are supporting it, which has been really lovely. They all say what a great idea it is,” she said. At Grove Hill care home, staff and residents were already feeling the effects. Amy Bishop, part of the Emporium team, said, “You can have text messages and emails but it is not the same as having a card in your hand. It’s something so simple but effective and really meaningful.” One resident, Roger, said he rarely received cards and that opening one made him feel emotional. “Somebody loves me,” he said. With more than 500 cards already written by local schoolchildren and hundreds more flowing in from the community, Highworth Emporium is well on its way to meeting its target, one handwritten message of kindness at a time.
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Scientists Are Using Moon-Based Missions to Unlock Dark Matter Secrets in a New Study
Astronomers say faint radio whispers from the early Universe could soon help solve one of the biggest mysteries in physics: the nature of dark matter. An international research team used advanced computer simulations to model how hydrogen gas behaved during the so-called Dark Ages, the first 100 million years after the Big Bang before stars and galaxies formed. Their results, published September 16 in Nature Astronomy, show that tiny differences in the gas signal could reveal whether dark matter particles are light and “warm” or heavy and “cold.” Dark matter makes up about 80 percent of all matter in the Universe. It does not emit or absorb light, but its gravity sculpts galaxies and the large-scale structure of the cosmos. Pinning down the mass of its unseen particles is central to physics, since lighter, warm particles would have smoothed away small cosmic structures, while heavier, cold particles would have allowed them to form. The new work, led by Hyunbae Park of the University of Tsukuba and including Naoki Yoshida of the Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe, simulated primordial gas clouds interacting with dark matter. As the gas cooled and clumped under gravity, its density and temperature changes left a mark in the 21-centimeter radio emission from hydrogen. The researchers found that the average strength of this signal would shift subtly depending on the type of dark matter present. “The difference is less than a milli-kelvin in brightness temperature,” the team reported. That’s an almost unimaginably faint trace, but one with major implications if detected. Catching such a signal from Earth is nearly impossible. At the low frequencies involved, around 50 megahertz or less, human-made radio noise and the ionosphere swamp any faint cosmic glow. The far side of the Moon, however, offers a pristine, radio-quiet environment, shielded from terrestrial interference. That is where several countries, including Japan, see opportunity. Japan’s proposed Tsukuyomi project plans to deploy radio antennas on the lunar surface. Other lunar observatories are under discussion worldwide as part of a new wave of space exploration combining scientific ambition with technological innovation. Although building a radio telescope on the Moon will be costly and technically demanding, the researchers argue it is now within reach. Their simulations provide a roadmap for what those experiments should look for, helping to maximize the scientific payoff once antennas are in place. If successful, such missions would do more than detect the Universe’s faintest signals. They could also provide the first direct clues to the mass of dark matter particles, a breakthrough in understanding the invisible majority of the cosmos.
Score (95)
Paris Auction House Just Unveiled This Picasso Painting Not Seen For 80 Years
A long-hidden Picasso portrait of Dora Maar, painted in Nazi-occupied Paris and unseen for 80 years, has been revealed in France. The work, Bust of a Woman in a Flowery Hat (Dora Maar), was completed in July 1943, near the end of the couple’s nine-year relationship. Unlike some of Picasso’s darker depictions of Maar, this canvas shows her in brighter colors, though her face still carries an expression of anguish. At the time, Maar had just learned that the 61-year-old Picasso intended to leave her for Françoise Gilot, then 21. The painting was sold in August 1944, a few months before the liberation of Paris, and has remained in the same French family’s private collection ever since. Its existence was known only from a black-and-white photograph in an art catalogue. The anonymous seller inherited it from a grandparent. Christophe Lucien, the auctioneer handling the sale, called it a landmark rediscovery. “It is not only a milestone in the history of art but also in the private life of Picasso,” he said. “It is a refreshing portrait of Dora Maar; exceptional and full of emotion. Discovering it is a big moment in our lives as experts.” Picasso painted Maar repeatedly, including in Dora Maar au Chat and La Femme qui pleure (Weeping Woman). While those works often cast her as a figure of torment, Maar herself dismissed them: “All of his portraits of me are lies. They’re all Picassos. Not one is Dora Maar.” Maar, who died in 1997, was a surrealist photographer whose experimental style shaped Picasso’s own work during their time together. Their relationship, marked by passion and violence, became one of the most influential episodes of his career. The Nazis had branded Picasso’s work “degenerate” and carried out raids on his Paris studio. Yet he continued to paint throughout the occupation, producing works that experts say were a rare burst of light during a dark time. Measuring 80 by 60 centimeters, the oil painting has been given a conservative estimate of €8 million by the auction house Lucien Paris, though it is expected to sell for significantly more. It will go on public display for three days before the auction on 24 October.
Score (98)
Brave Search Dog Rescues Teen Trapped Without Water For 3 Days
Fourteen-year-old Cody Trenkle’s summer nearly ended in tragedy. In late July, the Missouri teen crashed his skateboard near Goose Creek Lake and fell 240 feet into a rugged ravine. For almost 80 hours, his family and search teams scoured the steep terrain with no success. The breakthrough came thanks to a bloodhound named Daryl. The six-year-old K-9 from the Farmington Correctional Center was given a pair of Cody’s shoes to track. Within just 20 minutes, he found the boy alive. “Twenty minutes on a three-day-old track, that’s almost unheard of,” said Lt. Joe Gillam, who leads the K-9 unit. “As a parent myself with a 14-year-old, this was the best-case scenario because he was found alive.” Cody’s mother, Stephanie Neely, said she knew the moment Daryl locked onto the scent. “I put all my faith in Daryl, and sure enough, 20 minutes later, all the alarms started going off. That’s when I knew they found him,” she said. Rescuers discovered Cody badly hurt, lying in a foot of water. He was airlifted to Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital, where he spent 11 days in a medically induced coma and a full month recovering from a brain bleed, pneumonia, and deep cuts. Despite it all, Cody kept his humor. “Just got to get the head healed, and then I’m Cody again,” he joked. Two weeks after leaving the hospital, he returned to school and met his four-legged rescuer in person. Stroking Daryl’s ears, he said, “If I’d had to spend a couple more hours down there, I wouldn’t have made it. But because of him, 20 minutes, man, I’m impressed. Thank you. Thanks, Bubbas.” For Stephanie, watching that moment was emotional. “He was on a mission that day, which I’m grateful for. But just seeing him today and seeing Cody get to meet him, it’s pretty amazing,” she said. The Missouri Department of Corrections awarded Daryl and the K-9 team medals for their lifesaving work. But for Cody and his family, no medal can match the gift of life that Daryl’s nose delivered. Cody still faces months of recovery, but his resilience—and the bond with a dog who refused to give up—has already written a story his family will never forget.
Score (97)
The Global Treasure Hunt Hiding in Plain Sight: 25 Years of Geocaching
Bryan Roth had already been scrambling over rocks in Finland’s Pirkanmaa region when his guides handed him a pair of coveralls and pointed at a narrow cave entrance. “We have to go in the hole,” one told him. Inside was what he was after: a geocache, a hidden container waiting to be found at a precise set of GPS coordinates. Roth is not only a geocacher but also president of Geocaching HQ, the company that runs Geocaching.com, the main platform where millions of hobbyists log their finds and track new caches. This year marks the 25th anniversary of geocaching, a pastime that has quietly grown into a global game with more than 3.4 million caches hidden in parks, cities, and even on the International Space Station. At its core, geocaching is digital treasure hunting. Participants use GPS coordinates to track down hidden containers that can range from film canisters tucked under a park bench to large boxes buried deep in the woods. The thrill comes not from the contents—which might be trinkets, notes, or small toys—but from the hunt itself and the places the game takes people. “GPS started as a U.S. military program,” said Brian Weeden, a space policy expert at the Aerospace Corporation’s Center for Space Policy and Strategy. Originally designed to guide ships, planes, and weapons, the technology relies on signals from satellites orbiting Earth. By 2000, the U.S. government switched off a deliberate signal distortion known as “selective availability,” making GPS precise enough for civilian use. Almost immediately, geocaching was born. Dave Ulmer, a GPS enthusiast, placed the first cache that May: a five-gallon bucket filled with map software, books, money, food, and even a slingshot. He posted the coordinates online. Three days later, Mike Teague became the first finder. Teague then began curating a list of other caches, and the game quickly spread. At first it was called the Great American GPS Stash Hunt, but to avoid the drug-related undertones of “stash,” the name was changed to geocaching. Jon Stanley, now a senior data scientist at Geocaching HQ, remembers hiding one of the early caches near his family’s cabin in Idaho. “I want to take people to a place that they wouldn't visit ordinarily,” he said. That impulse to bring strangers to unexpected corners of the world remains central to the game. Back then, geocachers relied on clunky handheld GPS units with no maps. Today, smartphones handle the navigation, pulling signals not only from U.S. satellites but also from Russia’s GLONASS, Europe’s Galileo, and China’s BeiDou systems. “That means a lot of devices these days, including your phone, can pull signals from all these constellations, which makes it easier to get a signal and can improve the accuracy,” Weeden explained. As the technology has improved, so has the creativity of cache placements. Some require climbing gear or scuba tanks, while others are hidden inside libraries or disguised as everyday objects. Roth’s cave cache in Finland is just one example of how far the game can push people. Despite its high-tech underpinnings, the appeal is simple: exploration. Millions of geocachers use the hobby as an excuse to get outside, add adventure to a road trip, or see their neighborhoods differently. The hidden boxes and logs become excuses for movement and connection, binding together a community that spans the globe. From a single bucket hidden in the Oregon woods 25 years ago, the game has grown into a worldwide network of secret prizes—millions of them waiting just behind a wall, under a log, or up a mountain. For players, every set of coordinates is a chance to find something unexpected.