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Students Raise More Than $20K To Give Their Favorite Custodian His “Dream” Gift
Students at James Madison High School in Vienna, Virginia surprised custodian Francis Apraku with his dream Jeep Wrangler. A group of teens started a challenge to raise money for him and quickly gathered $5,000. The students presented the car to Francis on September 9, making his dream come true. Grateful for their kindness, Francis expressed how much the gesture meant to him and praised the strong connection between staff and students at the school.
Score (94)
Orphaned Macaque Punch Outgrows Plushie, Starts Making New Friends
At first, the tiny monkey would not let go of the plush toy. Now, he’s starting to let go just enough to grow up. Punch, a baby macaque at the Ichikawa City Zoo near Tokyo, captured hearts after visitors noticed him dragging around an oversized orangutan plushie for comfort. The toy became his constant companion after a difficult start to life. Punch was abandoned by his mother shortly after birth, likely because she was exhausted. Without a parent to cling to, zookeepers stepped in to care for him and introduced the plush toy to help him learn one of the most important skills for newborn macaques: holding tightly to something for safety. Photos of the tiny monkey hugging the much larger stuffed orangutan quickly spread online. In many of them, Punch could be seen running back to the toy whenever other monkeys pushed him away. But recently, something changed. Zookeepers say Punch is beginning to spend less time with the plush toy and more time with the other monkeys in the enclosure. On a recent day, he was spotted climbing onto another monkey’s back, sitting alongside adults and even getting groomed and hugged by members of the troop. For visitors who had been following his story, the change has been a relief. “It was good to see him grow, and I’m reassured,” said Sanae Izumi, a fan who traveled from Osaka to see him. “He is adorable!” The young macaque’s popularity has brought a surge of attention to the zoo. After images of Punch and his plush companion spread online, crowds began arriving to see him. Zoo staff eventually introduced quiet rules and limited viewing time to about 10 minutes so the more than 50 monkeys living there would not feel stressed. For keepers, Punch slowly leaving the toy behind is exactly what they hoped would happen. “Helping Punch learn the rules of monkey society and being accepted as a member is our most important task,” said zookeeper Kosuke Kano. Zoo director Shigekazu Mizushina says the plush toy served its purpose. It gave the orphaned monkey something to cling to during a critical stage of development. “When he grows out of the plush toy that encourages his independence, and that’s what we are hoping for,” Mizushina said. Punch has not completely let go of the toy yet. He still curls up with the stuffed orangutan each night when it is time to sleep. But if things keep going well, zookeepers say the next big milestone will be seeing him sleep in a tight huddle with the other monkeys. For now, the tiny macaque who once clung to a toy for comfort is slowly finding something even better: a place in the troop.
Score (96)
Kenyan Cancer Survivor Knits Hope For Women After Mastectomy
Mary Mwangi thought her life might end when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Instead, it changed direction. Today, the Kenyan survivor spends her days knitting soft prosthetic breasts for women who have undergone mastectomies, offering comfort and confidence in a country where medical alternatives are often far too expensive. Mwangi lives in Thika, just outside Nairobi, and began knitting while recovering from treatment. What started as a simple hobby in 2017 making hats and scarves soon became something much larger after she met another woman knitting prosthetic breasts for survivors. Now Mwangi leads a small group called New Dawn Cancer Warriors, where women gather in a shared tailor shop to knit prostheses and support each other through recovery. “Knitting takes you through a process of healing. Once you are not thinking about your disease, you are positive and that positive mind helps you, because healing starts from your mind,” Mwangi said. Breast cancer remains the most commonly diagnosed cancer among women in Kenya. About 6,000 new cases are reported each year, and many patients cannot afford reconstructive surgery after a mastectomy. Mwangi’s solution is both simple and practical. Her knitted prostheses cost about $10 each, roughly one-sixth the cost of silicone versions sold in the country. The soft forms are filled with fiber similar to what is used in pillows, making them gentle on the skin. Over the past three years, Mwangi and the women she trains have made and sold more than 600 prostheses. Many are purchased by organizations that donate them to cancer survivors who cannot afford them. For women like Nancy Waithera, a high school science teacher, meeting Mwangi before surgery changed how she viewed the future. When she first received her diagnosis, Waithera said, “everything turned dark.” Her husband had recently died, and the cancer diagnosis left her feeling overwhelmed. But after learning about Mwangi’s work, she began imagining life after surgery. When she wore the knitted prosthesis for the first time, heading to church, the emotional impact surprised her. “I felt like Nancy had come back,” she said. “My ego was restored. My dignity was restored.” Another woman, Hannah Mugo, had previously tried to fill her bra with clothing to restore her shape after surgery. The result often looked uneven and made her self-conscious. “I used to stay indoors because I didn’t want people to label me as the ‘woman with one breast’,” Mugo said. After meeting Mwangi, she learned how to knit prostheses herself and now makes them for both personal use and to sell. Doctors say the emotional support from hobbies and peer groups can be just as important as medical treatment. Daniel Ojuka, a surgeon at Kenyatta National Hospital, said the emotional impact of mastectomy can be profound. Even when patients are prepared for the surgery, he has watched many wake up and weep after realizing the physical loss. Having a plan for life afterward and a supportive community, he said, makes recovery “significantly easier.” In Kenya, reconstructive breast surgery is often out of reach financially and is not covered by the national health insurance system. As a result, many women choose mastectomy as the most affordable treatment option. Mwangi hopes her work can fill part of that gap. She continues to train other women to knit prostheses, turning a simple craft into both a source of income and a way to rebuild confidence. “There is life after cancer, and cancer is not a death sentence, because I’m a living testimony,” she said. For many women who walk into her small shop carrying grief and uncertainty, those words are the first stitches in a new beginning.
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Score (98)
This Shelter Dog Found Her Forever Family After Waiting 803 Days
Some dogs wait days for a family. Some wait weeks. Scrappy waited 803 days. The German Shepherd mix spent more than two years at the Hardin County Animal Shelter before finally finding the forever home she had been hoping for. Shelter staff say Scrappy first arrived when she was just four months old. By the time she was adopted last week, she was nearly three years old and had spent most of her life growing up inside the shelter. Despite her playful personality and friendly nature, Scrappy somehow kept getting overlooked. “She is a good girl who just needs guidance and structure,” shelter staff wrote in a Facebook post about the dog. They added that she loves people, enjoys running outside and gets along well with other dogs. Earlier this year, workers marked a difficult milestone when Scrappy reached 800 days without being adopted. The shelter shared her story online along with a photo of the dog wearing a small cast after injuring a toe. “Her jumpy, desperate attempt to catch the attention of potential adopters landed her right in the vet’s office,” the shelter wrote. “Don’t worry, after a little TLC … her toe will be just fine.” Once her paw healed, Scrappy returned to her kennel to keep waiting. But this time, people were paying attention. The post about her long stay quickly spread online. Hundreds of people shared the story, and many left comments cheering the dog on and hoping someone would give her a chance. Some wrote that they wished they could adopt her but were unable to because of housing restrictions, work schedules or other challenges. Then, just days after the post began circulating, the wait ended. “We posted, you shared, and our sweet Scrappy has LEFT THE BUILDING to FINALLY begin her forever!” the shelter announced in a follow-up message. Scrappy was adopted by a woman named Carrie, who welcomed the long-waiting pup into her home. Shelter staff thanked her for giving the dog the fresh start they had hoped for since Scrappy first arrived as a puppy. “Thank you to Carrie for your kind and patient heart, and for giving our girl the opportunity to live her best life ever,” the shelter wrote. For the staff who watched Scrappy grow up behind kennel doors, the moment was emotional. After 803 days of waiting, the energetic dog who once jumped at every visitor finally walked out of the shelter and into a home of her own.
Score (95)
Scientists Celebrate Breakthrough As New Drug Shows Promise For Children With Dravet Syndrome
For families living with Dravet syndrome, daily life can be unpredictable and exhausting. The rare genetic condition often causes severe seizures that resist standard treatments, along with developmental and speech challenges. Now, researchers say a new drug could offer a meaningful breakthrough. Early clinical trials of a medication called Zorevunersen have shown promising results, significantly reducing seizures in children with the condition. The preliminary trial, led by scientists at University College London and Great Ormond Street Hospital, involved 81 children between the ages of two and 18. Before the study began, participants experienced an average of 17 seizures per month. After receiving a 70-milligram dose of Zorevunersen, seizures dropped by about 50 percent on average. After three doses, researchers reported seizure reductions of roughly 80 percent. Equally important, the drug appeared safe and well tolerated by the children taking part. The findings, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, also showed improvements in quality of life, including better motor skills, communication and the ability to cope with daily activities. For clinicians who work with these patients, the results are encouraging. “I regularly see patients with hard-to-treat genetic epilepsies, who can have multiple seizures a week,” said Helen Cross, director and professor of childhood epilepsy at the UCL Institute of Child Health and honorary consultant in paediatric neurology at Great Ormond Street Hospital. “Many are unable to do anything independently for themselves; they require around the clock care and are at high risk of sudden expected death in epilepsy.” Cross said the next step will be a larger phase 3 clinical trial to study the drug over a longer period. Researchers will examine long-term safety, possible rare side effects and which patients are most likely to benefit. If those trials confirm the early results, she said the treatment could dramatically change lives. “This new treatment could help children with Dravet syndrome lead much healthier and happier lives.” Experts who were not involved in the study also welcomed the findings. Jowinn Chew, a researcher at London South Bank University, described the early results as a “clinically significant step forward” toward treatments that target the underlying cause of the disorder rather than simply managing seizures. Other scientists say the implications could reach far beyond Dravet syndrome. Dr Alfredo Gonzalez-Sulser of the University of Edinburgh said the findings were “incredibly exciting” and could point toward new therapies for other rare epilepsies. “There are now over 800 genetic epilepsies that need therapeutics similar to Zorevunersen,” he said. “This sets a clear path to achieve effective interventions for these severe life-altering diseases for both patients and carers.” Deb Pal, a professor of epilepsy at King’s College London, said the study offers “enormous hope for the families of thousands of children and young people affected by monogenic epilepsies worldwide.” For many families who have spent years searching for effective treatments, that hope alone marks an important step forward.
Score (94)
This Assistant Coach Helped Remove a Disoriented Pelican From a College Baseball Game
A pelican caused quite a stir when it landed on a baseball field during a game between the University of California Santa Barbara and Loyola Marymount University in Santa Barbara, California, on Tuesday, March 3. UC Santa Barbara Baseball captured this video showing assistant coach Dylan Jones removing the large bird, which he wrapped in a towel, from Caesar Uyesaka Stadium. According to a game recap, the bird glided low over the field and became momentarily trapped in the netting behind home plate, which delayed the game. The bird eventually flew out of the area and UC Santa Barbara defeated Loyola Marymount 11-1. credit: UC Santa Barbara Baseball via Storyful
Score (97)
Los Angeles Grants Historic Status To 'Brady Bunch' House
Here’s the story… of a house that just became a piece of history. The suburban home made famous by the classic sitcom The Brady Bunch has officially been designated a historic-cultural monument by the Los Angeles City Council. The vote on Wednesday gives landmark protection to the 1970s-era home on Dilling Avenue in Studio City, a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. The designation followed a 13-0 recommendation by the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission. For television fans, the modest suburban house is instantly recognizable. It served as the exterior home for the Brady family during the show’s original run from 1969 to 1974. Inside scenes from the sitcom were filmed on a sound stage, but the home’s distinctive façade helped set the scene for one of television’s most enduring family comedies. The house also returned to the spotlight years later when it appeared in the 1995 film The Brady Bunch Movie and its sequel. In recent years, the property gained new attention thanks to a renovation project by HGTV. The network purchased the house in 2019 and recreated the show’s interior as part of the series A Very Brady Renovation, carefully rebuilding the inside to match the famous TV set. After the renovation, the roughly 1959-built home was sold to Tina Trahan, a historic-house enthusiast and the wife of former HBO executive Chris Albrecht. She purchased the property for $3.2 million. The home had previously been listed for $5.5 million after HGTV acquired it for $3.5 million. Trahan has said she views the house less as a residence and more as a cultural artifact. “Nobody is going to live in it,” Trahan told The Wall Street Journal. “Anything you might do to make the house livable would take away from what I consider artwork.” Her plans include using the property for charitable causes and fundraising events. Before HGTV stepped in, the home had quietly remained in the same family for nearly half a century. Late last year, fans finally got a rare opportunity to step inside when the property opened for a three-day charity fundraiser called “The Brady Experience.” With the new landmark designation, the house now joins a long list of protected cultural sites across Los Angeles. For television lovers, it means the iconic Brady home — the one that greeted viewers week after week for decades — is officially recognized as part of the city’s history.
Score (97)
This Wolf Was Just Rescued From a Canal In Northern Italy
Firefighters rescued a stranded wolf from a canal in San Giovanni Lupatoto, Italy, on March 3. Footage posted by the Vigili del Fuoco shows the wolf being rescued from a canal footbridge. According to local media, the wolf was to remain at a local animal recovery center before being released back into the wild. credit: Vigili del Fuoco via Storyful
Score (97)
Pop Star Zara Larsson Joins Kids’ “Bike Bus” And Turns School Ride Into A Music Video
Most school buses do not come with a soundtrack. But in one neighborhood in Portland, Oregon, the morning ride to school often includes hundreds of kids on bikes, a Bluetooth speaker blasting music and the occasional pop star pedaling along. It all started four years ago when physical education teacher Sam Balto launched what he calls a “Bike Bus” for students in Northeast Portland. Known to many of his students and followers as Coach Balto, he wanted to create a safer, more exciting way for children to get to school. The idea is simple. Students ride bikes together along a set route through the neighborhood, traveling as a group so they are easier to see and safer in traffic. Along the way, they also draw attention to the need for safer cycling routes around schools. What began as a small effort has grown into a weekly event that now sees hundreds of children riding together. Balto leads the pack through the neighborhood at least once a week, music pumping from a speaker as the group pedals toward class. The concept has spread far beyond Portland. Today, there are more than 520 Bike Bus groups around the world. The rides have even started attracting celebrities. Balto and his students have previously welcomed artists like Justin Timberlake and Benson Boone, who joined the group for rides through the neighborhood while students sang along to their favorite songs. Last week, Balto set his sights on another guest. He posted a clip showing students riding through the rain while Zara Larsson’s song “Lush Life” played in the background. “This weekend you start your tour in Portland,” Balto wrote to Larsson. “Zara Larsson, want to ride in the Bike Bus with us? The kids would go absolutely crazy with excitement!!” Larsson quickly replied in the comments. “Oh I’ll be there! Check DM.” Just days later, she showed up. Before performing at the Crystal Ballroom on Saturday, February 28, Larsson joined Balto and his students for a ride along their usual route. Because the ride took place over the weekend, students from about 10 Portland schools were able to participate, Balto told Willamette Week. The moment quickly turned into something that looked closer to a music video than a commute. “Our ride with Zara Larsson felt like a Bike Bus music video,” Balto wrote on social media after the event. “Smiles everywhere, joy nonstop, singing and dancing the whole way.” Larsson appeared just as thrilled to take part. In one video she shared, the singer smiles at the camera while riding an e-bike and singing along to her new single, “Midnight Sun.” Text on the clip reads: “Portland Bike Bus I love youuuuu.” According to Balto, the singer stayed long after the ride ended. She took photos with students, signed autographs and even joined them for a TikTok dance to “Lush Life.” “I still can’t believe she said yes, and we pulled this off in three days,” Balto wrote on social media. “Zara Larsson is the kindest individual I’ve ever met.” Beyond the fun, Balto says celebrity visits have another effect. “Celebrity participation is a big accelerator,” he told Willamette Week. “It puts Bike Bus in front of people who would never see it otherwise because it breaks out of the usual algorithm bubbles.” Each time a well-known guest joins the ride, Balto says he notices a surge in messages from people asking how to start their own Bike Bus routes in other cities. For Larsson, the experience seemed to be just as memorable as the concert she came to town to perform. “Weeee!” she exclaimed in a TikTok video from the ride. In the caption she added: “Thank you so much for having [me]. This was a big moment for me!!!” And for the hundreds of kids pedaling alongside her that morning, the trip to school might have been the most fun commute they would ever have.
Score (98)
Brazilian Researchers Use Ultrasonic Waves To Transform Cocoa Waste Into Nutrient-Rich Honey
Dark chocolate and honey already make a great pair. Now scientists say the combination might also reduce food waste. Researchers in Brazil have shown that ultrasonic waves can extract beneficial nutrients from leftover cocoa bean husks when the plant material is mixed with honey. The process turns what is normally agricultural waste into a nutritionally enriched honey product. Cocoa beans are prized for making chocolate, but most of the cocoa plant ends up discarded. The husks and surrounding material make up the majority of the harvest’s biomass. Despite being thrown away, those parts still contain many of the same plant nutrients found in cocoa beans. Among them are polyphenols linked to heart health, alkaloids such as theobromine and stimulants like caffeine. If producers could recover those compounds from the waste, they could reduce discarded material while creating new products. That idea led researchers at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in São Paulo to experiment with a method based on “green chemistry.” Instead of using chemical solvents often found in food processing, the team used honey itself as the extracting medium. Solvents such as hexane are commonly used in food production to draw compounds from ingredients. For example, hexane helps extract polyunsaturated fats from cotton seeds to produce cottonseed oil. In the Brazilian experiment, honey played that role instead. The researchers mixed cocoa husks and shells into honey and inserted an ultrasonic wave emitter into the mixture. The sound waves broke down the plant material and helped release its nutrients into the honey. “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,” Felipe Sanchez Bragagnolo, the study’s first author, told Agência FAPESP. The ultrasonic process may offer another benefit. The researchers believe the sound waves also reduced microbes already present in the honey. That could make the product easier to store and sell without relying on pasteurization or refrigeration. The team tested honey from five species of native Brazilian stingless bees. These honeys tend to contain more liquid and have lower viscosity than the honey produced by the European honeybee used in most commercial production. The researchers ultimately selected honey from the mandaguari bee, known scientifically as Scaptotrigona postica. However, they say cocoa plantations could use honey from whatever native species lives nearby. For producers that already work with cocoa and beekeeping, the technique could offer a new product made from materials that would otherwise be discarded. “We believe that 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,” said Professor Mauricio Rostagno, a coordinator of the study. By combining ultrasonic technology with natural ingredients, the researchers say cocoa waste could turn into something both useful and flavorful.
Score (97)
Meet The World’s Clumsiest Parrot Making A Comeback
If you ever needed proof that survival sometimes looks a little awkward, meet the kākāpō. This large, moss-green bird from New Zealand is famous for a few unusual traits. It is the world’s only flightless parrot. It is also the heaviest parrot on Earth. And by most accounts, it may also be the clumsiest. In the book Last Chance To See, British author Douglas Adams once described the bird’s famously ungainly behavior. “Its wings are just about good for waggling a bit if it thinks it’s about to trip over something — but flying is out of the question. Sadly, however, it seems that not only has the kākāpō forgotten how to fly, but it has forgotten that it has forgotten how to fly,” Adams wrote. “Apparently,” he added, “a seriously worried kākāpō will sometimes run up a tree and jump out of it, whereupon it flies like a brick and lands in a graceless heap on the ground.” Endearing clumsiness aside, the species has long been on the brink of extinction. The bird, roughly the size of a house cat, once faced a bleak future. By 1974, conservationists feared the species had vanished entirely. By 1995, only 51 kākāpōs were known to exist in the wild. Today, that number has climbed to 236. The comeback is the result of an intense conservation effort involving scientists and members of the Ngāi Tahu tribe, who view the bird as culturally and spiritually significant. “It’s a taonga species, a treasure to us,” Tāne Davis, Ngāi Tahu’s representative of kākāpō conservation, told Scientific American. Over the past decade, conservation teams have closely monitored the birds, giving them what some describe as routine “doctor’s visits.” At the same time, hand-reared chicks have been released into the wild while invasive predators are removed from sensitive habitats. Ngāi Tahu members also focus on restoring the “mauri,” or life force, of the ecosystems where the birds live. Even with that support, helping kākāpō populations grow requires some unusual matchmaking. Deidre Vercoe, operations manager for New Zealand’s Department of Conservation kākāpō program, says scientists sometimes have to intervene to preserve genetic diversity among the small population. “We do what we can to make sure we don’t lose any further genetic diversity,” Vercoe told the Associated Press. “We manage that carefully through having the best matches possible on each island.” Some of the most prolific males are even relocated if they start dominating the gene pool. In fact, conservationists created a tongue-in-cheek solution for particularly successful suitors: a nearby refuge known as “Bachelor Island.” One famous resident is a male named Blades, who has fathered 22 chicks since 1982. “He was a victim of his own success,” said Andrew Digby, science adviser for the Department of Conservation’s kākāpō team. “He was too popular.” Even without intervention, kākāpō reproduction is unpredictable. Unlike many birds, they do not breed every year. Instead, they tend to reproduce only when a native evergreen called the rimu tree produces an especially large crop of bright red berries. This year, that rare event happened. The abundant harvest has triggered what conservationists describe as a kākāpō baby boom. According to Digby, nearly every female of breeding age has nested this season, laying a remarkable 240 eggs so far. Scientists expect roughly half of those eggs to be fertile, with fewer chicks surviving to adulthood. Still, the early results are promising. As of March 3, researchers have recorded 26 living chicks. Right now, they resemble small, fuzzy puffballs. But Digby says that phase will not last long. Within weeks, he joked, they start looking like “weird little dinosaurs with these huge, oversized feet.” For many New Zealanders, the quirky bird has become something of a national symbol. “We don’t have the Eiffel Tower or the pyramids, but we do have kākāpō and kiwi,” Vercoe said. “It’s a real New Zealand duty to save these birds.” And if the latest baby boom continues, the world’s most awkward parrot might just keep waddling its way back from the edge.