Astrophotographer Peers Into a Cosmic 'Eye' Looking Out Into the Universe in Epic Photo

Renowned photographer Miguel Claro captured stunning images of the night sky, including a mesmerizing portrait resembling a giant eye staring into the Milky Way galaxy. The photo, taken above Alqueva Lake in Portugal, showcases the beauty of our cosmic home with nebulas and the Andromeda Galaxy visible. "Beauty will save the world," says Claro, who wants his work to inspire awe and appreciation for the vast universe we are part of.

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This Seven-Year-Old Entrepreneur's Confetti Business is Blooming Into a Family Shop

What started as a way for a seven-year-old to earn a bit of pocket money has blossomed — literally — into a family business with its own shop. Ezra, from Eastwood, Nottinghamshire, first helped his dad, Nathan, make biodegradable flower confetti for their 2024 wedding. When they had extra petals, the family listed them online. Ezra made his first £10 and was hooked. “He was like, ‘oh, this is amazing,’” Nathan told the BBC. So the family kept going. Ezra and his five-year-old sister Ivy peeled petals, dried them, packed orders, and watched as demand grew. Before long, the children’s hobby became Ezra’s Confetti, and now the family is preparing to open its first shop in Heanor, Derbyshire. “It’s fun to peel the petals and besides, if we’re here a whole entire day, we get yummy food like pizza,” Ezra said. Ivy summed up her excitement differently: “It’s great, amazing, brilliant.” The work is surprisingly hands-on for kids their age. “We’ve got flowers here, we peel them, put them in the dehydrators and then turn them into orders,” Ezra explained proudly. Many of the flowers are donated, and the biodegradable confetti meets the environmental rules now required at many wedding venues. “Both of the little ones love nature. They love caring for the planet. So it fitted in with all of that as well,” Nathan said. But beyond sustainability, the family says the project has been a lesson in focus and responsibility. “They know that they've got to work hard because they're making confetti for people's weddings,” Nathan said. “You can't do it half-heartedly. You can't make mistakes. It needs to be perfect.” Ezra and Ivy say they can’t wait to welcome friends and customers once the renovation is done. They thanked their parents — and their parents’ friends — for helping the business grow. But when it comes to who’s in charge? Ezra was very clear: “It’s called Ezra’s Confetti and it has my name in it.” Nathan and stepmum Catherine gently disagreed. The real boss, they said, might actually be Ivy. The five-year-old, they added, is “the most bossy” member of the team. However, the chain of command shakes out, the message is the same: a small idea, a few petals, and two enthusiastic kids can turn into something pretty special.

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A Grieving Friend Started Saving Empty Chairs in Pubs — Now the Idea Has Spread Across the Globe

When 29-year-old Dean Perryman walked into pubs across Essex and London wearing a bright orange sweatshirt, he wasn’t trying to stand out. He was trying to make space — literally — for someone who needed a chat. What began as a personal act of grief after losing his best friend Rob has now become a worldwide movement against loneliness. In December, Perryman spent every day reserving tables in local pubs and posting his whereabouts online, inviting anyone who wanted company to join him. He called the idea Empty Chairs. He didn’t expect more than a handful of conversations. Instead, people around the world picked up the idea. Since launching his website, 400 people have signed up to host meet-ups in Belgium, Canada, Australia, Norway, Switzerland, and the United States. “It’s honestly still so surreal to me,” Perryman said. “I just wanted to do something positive with the grief and the guilt that I was feeling from having lost Rob. To see that it’s resonated with other people has just been incredible.” The bright orange he wore became the unofficial uniform of the project — a silent signal that a stranger is welcome at the table. In Norway, 48-year-old Thale Kalbakk pulled on an orange jumper for her own event. Their winters, she said, can be cold, dark, and isolating. But the experience moved her. “The people were so nice. I’m overwhelmed,” she said. “I hope I made a difference, because the women I met made a difference for me.” In Brussels, 32-year-old Belén Luna Sanz has already hosted three gatherings. “I realised that people were feeling quite lonely, even though we had so much social contact,” she said. “It wasn’t enough to talk to people, it was about the connections that we were creating.” In Switzerland, marketing professional Federico Lamanna, 25, is running groups in Geneva — and setting up more in Bern and Zurich. For him, the cause is deeply personal. Moving between cities left him feeling isolated. “I sort of wish that Empty Chairs existed back then,” he said. At his first meet-up, no one came. He shrugged it off. “That’s not really the point of Empty Chairs,” he said. The next week, someone did show up — and the two shared what he called “a wonderful, wonderful time.” In Canada, 55-year-old Jill McFarland turned her table into Andrew’s Empty Chair, a tribute to her husband, who died by suicide in 2020. She wanted a way to honour him, and found Perryman’s story through social media. “Loneliness is an epidemic in our society for people from all ages and walks of life,” she said. “So if I can go and create space for even one person… maybe they will feel encouraged to talk again.” One of her attendees was 79 years old — a woman who rarely leaves her house. “She was so glad she did,” McFarland said. “That made my night.” For Perryman, the movement remains tied to Rob. On what would have been his friend’s 30th birthday, he posted a video reflecting on the project, saying Rob’s parents have been his “biggest supporters.” “It’s incredible to make a legacy for Rob,” he said, one that brings connection to people facing their own quiet battles with loneliness. From a few empty chairs in Essex to gatherings across six countries, Perryman’s simple gesture is becoming something much larger: proof that a single saved seat can open the door to a conversation someone desperately needs.

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He's Setting His Sights on the 2028 Paralympics — With a New Set of Legs to Match

Billy Monger has spent most of his life doing things people said he couldn’t. Now the 26-year-old double amputee from Charlwood, Surrey, is training for something even bigger: the 2028 Paralympic triathlon. “I am in the early stages where it's about getting fitter and stronger,” Monger told BBC Radio Surrey. The challenge isn’t just the training. It’s the engineering. Monger and his team are trying to design one set of prosthetic legs that can handle all three events — swimming, cycling, and running — in a single race. “Definitely complex,” he admitted. Typically, Monger uses different equipment for different disciplines. He runs with blades, cycles with a specific set of prosthetics, and swims without any. Creating a single all-purpose setup is a technical puzzle that would challenge even elite para-sport engineers. But Monger has never shied away from hard things. He first said back in March 2025 that he was aiming for the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympics, and his résumé shows why that’s a believable target. In 2024, he broke the Ironman World Championship record for a double amputee in Hawaii. Before that, he raised more than £3 million for Comic Relief by walking, cycling, and kayaking across England over four days. And all of this comes after surviving a near-fatal racing crash at Donington Park in 2017 that resulted in both legs being amputated. Before the accident, Monger had dreamed of Formula 1. Afterwards, he reinvented himself — first as an endurance athlete, then as a broadcaster covering para-sports for the BBC. This winter, Monger is heading to Milan to lead broadcast commentary for the upcoming Winter Paralympic Games. “It's a huge opportunity,” he said. “I am really excited to watch some great winter sports.” Monger’s story has always been equal parts grit and reinvention. Now he’s trying to engineer one more transformation — one set of legs, one brutal sport, and one shot at the Paralympics. If his past is any indication, it’s hard to bet against him.

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Scientists Find Gut Bacteria May Influence How Long Dogs Live After Cancer Treatment

It’s the news no pet lover wants to hear: roughly 6 million dogs in the U.S. are diagnosed with cancer every year. But in a promising twist, researchers now think a dog’s gut bacteria might hold clues about how well they respond to cutting-edge cancer treatments. A new study published in Veterinary Oncology examined whether the microbiome — the community of bacteria living in a dog’s intestinal tract — affects survival outcomes after immunotherapy. The idea builds on work in humans, where gut microbes have been linked to how well patients respond to cancer treatment. “Studies in humans have linked specific gut microbiome signatures to clinical outcomes in cancer patients receiving immunotherapy,” the researchers wrote. To see if the same holds true for dogs, scientists enrolled 51 canine cancer patients at the Bridge Animal Referral Center in the United States. Each dog received a promising immunotherapy vaccine designed to block two proteins, EGFR and HER2, which fuel tumor growth in some cancers. The goal wasn’t a cure, but more quality time — longer, healthier days with the people who adore them. But the immune system doesn’t operate alone. It works amid trillions of microbes with their own complicated chemistry. By analyzing rectal swabs from the dogs and tracking how long each lived after vaccination, the researchers found something striking: 11 types of bacteria seemed to influence survival. Four were linked to longer life after treatment. Seven were associated with shorter survival. These patterns held regardless of breed or cancer type, including cancers far from the gut, like osteosarcoma and hemangiosarcoma. That suggests the microbiome might be affecting immune responses throughout the body, not just in the digestive system. The study didn’t determine how these bacteria influence outcomes — that’s the next frontier. But the implications are big. “Our study is a first step toward using the gut microbiome as a tool to develop prognoses and to manipulate cancer, not just in dogs, but potentially as a model for human treatments as well,” said Natalia Shulzhenko of Oregon State University, who specializes in how microbes and immune systems interact. If future work confirms the link, treatments like probiotics or even fecal transplants could eventually boost a dog’s response to immunotherapy. It might one day be routine for vets to run a microbiome swab before starting treatment. “In the future, an analysis of a microbiome swab could help predict how well a dog might respond to a cancer treatment,” Shulzhenko said. “Now that we know certain bacteria are linked to survival, we can explore ways to ‘fix’ a dog’s gut microbiome to help the vaccine work better and help the dog live longer.” The research is early, but for millions of families facing the uncertainty of canine cancer, it offers something invaluable: a little more hope.

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Scientists Just Shrunk a QR Code So Small Your Phone Would Need an Electron Microscope

If you’ve ever struggled to get your phone to scan a QR code on a wobbly restaurant menu, take comfort. Somewhere in Austria, seven scientists just built a QR code your phone wouldn’t recognize even if it had superpowers. The newest Guinness World Record holder measures 1.977 square micrometers. That’s smaller than some bacterial cells, smaller than airborne pollutants, and roughly one-third the size of the previous record. You could fit millions of them on the head of a pin and still have room for dessert. The tiny marvel was created by a team led by researchers at Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien), working in partnership with the data-storage company Cerabyte. They received their Guinness title on December 3, 2025, after the code was independently verified by University of Vienna and confirmed to work. “The structure we have created here is so fine that it cannot be seen with optical microscopes at all,” materials scientist Paul Mayrhofer said. “But that is not even the truly remarkable part.” He explained that while extremely tiny structures are common in modern science, that doesn’t guarantee stability or readability. Making a code this small and functional is the real achievement. The secret was the material. The researchers etched the QR code into a thin ceramic film normally used to coat high-performance cutting tools. Using focused ion beams, they carved pixels just 49 nanometers wide. That’s ten times smaller than the wavelength of visible light, meaning the whole thing is literally invisible without specialized equipment. “With ceramic storage media, we are pursuing a similar approach to that of ancient cultures, whose inscriptions we can still read today,” materials scientist Alexander Kirnbauer said. “We write information into stable, inert materials that can withstand the passage of time and remain fully accessible to future generations.” And the QR code is only the beginning. The team says their method could lead to tiny, ultra-durable forms of ceramic data storage with a far smaller carbon footprint than today’s digital solutions. On a single A4-sized sheet, they estimate they could store more than 2 terabytes of data. A microscopic QR code solving a massive storage problem — the kind of joke nature would appreciate, if it could squint.

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A Surprise at a Walmart Bakery Counter Left This Cancer Patient in Tears

Diane Bennett expected to pick up two simple cakes from Walmart. She did not expect a stranger’s kindness to stop her in her tracks. Bennett, from Greenfield, New York, has been undergoing treatment at New York Oncology Hematology for stage 3 breast cancer. As her final chemotherapy session approached, she decided to bring two cakes to thank the staff who had cared for her. The total came to about $50. When she arrived at the bakery to collect them, something didn’t add up. “I came in to pick them up, and I got them, and I walked away from a very nice bakery lady. And then I realized they said ‘paid’ and ‘congratulations,’ ” Bennett told CBS6. Confused, she walked back to the counter to clarify. “I said, ‘I didn’t pay for these.’ And she said, ‘Well, someone else paid for them, so they’re paid,’ ” Bennett recalled. Days later, returning with a local news crew, she learned the truth: a Walmart employee had quietly covered the full cost. The worker didn’t want credit or recognition. She simply wanted Bennett to have one less thing to worry about on a day that already carried so much weight. Bennett said she hugged the employee, nearly cried, and walked away overwhelmed. “The cakes were $50, so it was quite a significant gift from somebody.” For Bennett, who hasn’t been working during treatment, the gesture landed deeply. “I have stage 3 breast cancer, and I haven’t been working,” she said. “So her doing that was just an amazing blessing for me.” Her treatment continues next with surgery and six weeks of radiation, but she’s carrying the kindness with her. The unexpected gift, she said, has already changed how she wants to move through the world. “I always go out of my way for people. Very rarely do I receive it, but when I do, I make sure that I thank it,” she said. Now, she plans to pay that feeling forward.

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Dog-Sniffing Dog Helps Volunteers Rescue Lost Pets, Hailed As A Game-Changer

If you’ve ever wondered who might be working harder than the average Minnesotan this winter, meet Scout. She’s a black Labrador–Bloodhound mix from Minneapolis who treats her new uniform like it came straight off a runway for Very Serious Dogs. Scout isn’t just dressed for the role. She’s stepping into history as Minnesota’s first dog trained specifically to scent and track lost pets, joining an all-volunteer search crew called The Retrievers. Her vest says “Come Back Home, Puppies,” and she means every letter of it. Her trainer, Miki Carlson, told MPR News, “People call us when their dog goes missing, and we throw out the forces, so to speak.” Last year alone, she said, the group handled roughly 960 missing-dog cases and expects to hit about 1,000 this year. “We basically get the case and then just take it ’til the end, ’til we find their dog.” Scout is training to become their newest secret weapon. The problem, Carlson explained, is that many people wait too long to ask for help. Families often spend days searching on their own before calling The Retrievers, meaning the trail they’re working with is already fading. That’s where Scout comes in. Once her training is complete, she’ll be able to start at the dog’s last known location and follow the scent toward its next stop. According to a GoFundMe set up for her training, Scout is learning commands like “take scent,” “search,” and “which way?” that allow her to guide volunteers through neighborhoods, fields, and wooded areas. Carlson wrote that Scout will eventually be able to follow a scent that’s up to 13 days old. For anxious pet owners, that could mean real hope even after nearly two weeks of uncertainty. “We have needed a trailing dog so many times on Retrievers cases,” Carlson explained on GoFundMe. “With your help, we will finally be able to use the genius of a dog's nose to help bring more lost dogs home.” To MPR News, she added, “It's just going to be a game changer for us.” And she may be right. The group exists for reunions, and Scout is being trained for exactly that: to close the gap between a frightened pet and a worried family. The job may be new, but Scout’s commitment is already obvious. She’s the kind of employee who shows up early, wears the vest proudly, and doesn’t seem to mind when the assignment smells a little complicated.

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This Police Department Adopted a Stray Senior Dog and Gave Him a New Home at the Station

On a freezing February night, officers from the Milford Police Department answered a call about a stray dog wandering alone. What they didn’t know was that the mild-mannered senior they found on a random porch — no tags, no microchip, just a tired face — was about to become their newest coworker. They brought him back to the station to warm up. “During his visit to MPD, we could see he was mild mannered and sweet,” the department said in a Facebook post. After checking the area for an owner, officers placed him in a shelter and kept in touch, hoping someone would come forward. A week went by. No claims, no leads. So the department made a decision they don’t make often: they adopted him themselves, saying they wanted to give him a safe home “rather than leaving his future to chance.” A vet estimated the dog to be about nine years old. “The doc tells us he's around 9 years old, missing a few teeth, one of his ears won't stand up, and he doesn't hear very well, but we're going to give this old guy the best home we can,” the department wrote. It didn’t take long for staff to fall for him. The department says he’s already bringing “smiles and some needed stress relief.” He moves at a slow pace, loves being around people and, as they put it, is “quite a ham.” He’ll live full-time at the station and has already claimed the place as his own. Visitors are encouraged to stop by and say hello. As for his new name? Lil Craig, in honor of one of the officers who first brought him in, Lt. Ed Pilch told WXYZ. The department may have adopted him to give him a home, but chances are Lil Craig is giving just as much back.

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Brazilian Researchers Found a Sweet Use for Chocolate Waste — And It Tastes Like Cocoa

Researchers at State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) have turned an overlooked byproduct of chocolate making into something you can eat, spoon into recipes or even use in cosmetics. Their new creation blends native bee honey with cocoa bean shells, and the chemistry behind it was compelling enough to land the team on the cover of ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering. The idea is simple: use honey from native Brazilian bees as a natural solvent to pull out compounds from cocoa shells, which are usually discarded during chocolate production. The result is a honey with enhanced levels of phenolic compounds, antioxidants and anti-inflammatory agents — plus theobromine and caffeine, both linked to heart health. Early taste testers say it carries a deep chocolate flavor that shifts depending on how much cocoa shell is added. “Of course, the biggest appeal to the public is the flavor, but our analyses have shown that it has a number of bioactive compounds that make it quite interesting from a nutritional and cosmetic point of view,” said Felipe Sanchez Bragagnolo, the study’s first author. He conducted the research during his postdoctoral work at UNICAMP’s Faculty of Applied Sciences in Limeira, supported by FAPESP. The team is now working with INOVA UNICAMP to license the patented method and find a commercial partner. Part of what makes the project stand out is its sustainable twist. Honey from native Brazilian bees — such as borá, jataí, mandaçaia, mandaguari and moça-branca — contains more water and is less viscous than honey from European honeybees, making it a more effective extractor. Cocoa shells used in the tests were supplied by CATI São José do Rio Preto. Mandaguari honey became the starting point because it struck the right balance in water content and viscosity. Once the extraction process was fine-tuned, researchers applied it to the other varieties and found the method adaptable. “It’s possible to adapt the process to locally available honey, not necessarily mandaguari honey,” Bragagnolo said. The extraction relies on ultrasound. A metal probe inserted into the honey–cocoa mixture generates sound waves that form microscopic bubbles. When they collapse, the brief spike in temperature helps break down the shells so their compounds dissolve into the honey. Because it’s faster and requires fewer steps than traditional methods, ultrasound extraction is considered an environmentally friendly technique in the food industry. To quantify its sustainability, the team used Path2Green software developed by Professor Mauricio Ariel Rostagno, who supervised the project. The process scored +0.118 on a scale of -1 to +1, thanks in part to using a local, edible, ready-to-use solvent — honey — instead of harsher alternatives. Rostagno believes the technique could be a boon for small producers. “With a device like this, in a cooperative or small business that already works with both cocoa and native bee honey, it’d be possible to increase the portfolio with a value-added product, including for haute cuisine,” he said. Next, the team plans to study how ultrasound affects honey's microbiology. Honey from native bees typically requires refrigeration, dehumidification or pasteurization, but researchers suspect the ultrasound process might naturally eliminate microorganisms and improve shelf life. And this may be just the beginning. The group wants to explore other plant residues and expand the use of native bee honey as a green, adaptable solvent. If it works, a lot more agricultural byproducts — not just cocoa shells — could find a sweeter second life.

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Bystanders Heard a Cry in the Woods — and Ended Up Saving a Dog’s Life

Destiny Mesias and her boyfriend, Kevin Pauly, thought they were just passing by Stranger Creek when a faint, desperate sound cut through the woods. It wasn’t obvious at first. Mesias remembers pausing and listening again. “I think there’s a dog over there in the woods, hurt, you know, crying,” she said. Pauly started scanning the area, unsure where to look. Then he noticed the creek’s surface shift. Beneath the waterline, a German Shepherd was struggling to stay alive, wedged between steep, slick banks and too exhausted to climb out. From that moment, everything sped up. Pauly climbed down the bank without hesitating, wading into the creek to reach the dog before it slipped under. “First got there, I just stuck my hand out and tried to talk to him, and then he just whined at me,” he said. He managed to wrap a ratchet strap around the dog’s waist and held its head above water, talking to it to keep it awake. The dog kept fading. “Held his head up a little bit, we just kept talking to him as he kept trying to nod off into the water,” Pauly said. By the time help arrived, the German Shepherd had likely been in the creek for three to four hours. Crews from Leavenworth County Fire District 2 assessed the scene and saw how tough the rescue would be. “The bank is probably 15 feet tall, so we were able to use some ropes to get our people down to the water and get a rope around the dog to get it out,” Assistant Chief Dylan Ritter said. The firefighters hauled the dog upward in a controlled lift. Once on solid ground, its back legs gave out from exhaustion, but the danger had finally passed. Ritter said the rescue felt as rewarding as it was urgent. “It was really heartwarming to know that we were able to first execute the rescue proficiently and get the dog out of harm’s way and for the sheriff’s department and Riverview Rescue to get that canine on the road to recovery and find its owner.” The dog was taken to Riverview Rescue for care. Not long after, the best possible ending unfolded. The German Shepherd’s owner arrived and confirmed the dog had been missing for two days. The reunion was immediate and emotional. “It was really nice to be able to reconnect him. The dad was super excited. The dog was super excited,” said Levi Monahan, director of Riverview Rescue.

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