Mom NAILS Christmas Shopping with ENTIRELY Thrifted Gifts for Son!

This thrift-loving mom scores amazing secondhand Christmas gifts for her son, saving big bucks and spreading holiday cheer. Natalie Joy's TikTok video showcases unique finds like a vintage suitcase and a kiddie record player, all at bargain prices. With creativity and thrift store treasures, she creates magical memories without breaking the bank. By embracing thrifting as a hobby, Natalie proves that thoughtful gifts don't have to come with a hefty price tag—just some time and love.

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Why This Private Spacecraft is Aiming For a Lunar Landing In This Year's Moon Rush

The moon is about to get busy. After years of slow momentum, 2026 is shaping up to be a breakout year for lunar exploration — not just for NASA and China, but for private companies with serious ambitions of joining the moon rush. Several commercial missions are lined up to attempt landings, showcasing a mix of science, technology demonstrations, and international payloads. If successful, they could help shift lunar landings from rare government-led events to something far more routine — and far more commercial. Blue Origin: Blue Moon Pathfinder Mission 1 Jeff Bezos’s space company is finally heading to the moon. Blue Origin plans to launch its first Blue Moon lander on a New Glenn rocket from Cape Canaveral in early 2026. The mission is a tech demo, but there’s a lot riding on it. It will test systems critical for future NASA missions, including precision landing and propulsion technologies. The robotic lander — known as the Blue Moon Mark 1 — is targeting the lunar south pole, a high-interest region believed to contain water ice. It will carry a NASA payload called SCALPSS to study how the lander’s exhaust affects the moon’s surface during descent. Blue Origin is also NASA’s contractor for the Human Landing System, so this is essentially a dress rehearsal for future astronaut landings. Firefly Aerospace: Blue Ghost Mission 2 Texas-based Firefly is heading back to the moon just one year after its first successful lunar mission. Blue Ghost M2 is scheduled to launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 in the second quarter of 2026 and will try to land on the far side of the moon — something only China has accomplished so far. The mission is packed. It includes the Rashid Rover 2 for the United Arab Emirates, a wireless power receiver from Volta Space, and six other international and commercial payloads. It also features the European Space Agency’s Lunar Pathfinder orbiter, which will be deployed into orbit by Firefly’s Elytra spacecraft and will serve as a comms relay — a necessity for far-side missions, where Earth contact is impossible without support. Intuitive Machines: IM-3 After two hard landings in 2024 and 2025, Intuitive Machines is back for another shot. IM-3, the company’s third attempt, is scheduled for the second half of 2026, using the same NOVA-C lander as before. The mission will launch on a Falcon 9 from Kennedy Space Center and aim for the Reiner Gamma region — home to a mysterious swirl on the moon’s surface, linked to a local magnetic field. The lander will carry a suite of magnetometers and plasma instruments under NASA’s CLPS program. With the lessons learned from IM-1 and IM-2, the company is hoping for a cleaner touchdown this time. Astrobotic: Griffin Mission 1 Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic is also trying again after its Peregrine lander failed to reach the moon in 2024 due to a propulsion issue. The company’s Griffin lander is a much larger vehicle and is scheduled to launch on a Falcon Heavy no earlier than July 2026. Originally, Griffin was supposed to carry NASA’s VIPER rover, which was later delayed. Instead, it will now transport Astrolab’s 450-kilogram FLIP rover, along with Astrobotic’s own small CubeRover and a set of commercial and cultural payloads. The landing site? The south pole — another sign of the region’s growing strategic importance. A Pivotal Year for Private Moon Missions Taken together, these missions represent a key shift in how the moon is explored. They’re testing technologies and delivering scientific tools that will feed directly into the Artemis program and future international efforts. But just as importantly, they’re proving out business models. If companies like Blue Origin, Firefly, Intuitive Machines, and Astrobotic can pull off repeatable, reliable lunar deliveries, it could mark the beginning of a new phase — where private spaceflight plays an everyday role in humanity’s lunar presence. And if they can’t? Well, 2026 will still offer valuable data, hard lessons, and a few spectacular attempts. Either way, all eyes are on the moon.

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The NBA's Top Players are Rallying To Save the Life Of a Former Trainer — Here's Why

For three decades, Ed Lacerte worked behind the scenes, helping NBA stars stay healthy and ready to play. Now the longtime Boston Celtics and USA Basketball athletic trainer is in the fight of his life — and the basketball world is returning the favor. Lacerte, 62, was diagnosed in November with acute monocytic leukemia, a rare and aggressive blood cancer. His only chance at survival is a blood stem cell transplant. Since then, former players, league officials, and trainers from across the NBA have rallied around him in a league-wide campaign to find a donor. From Magic Johnson and Paul Pierce to Ray Allen and Kevin McHale, the tributes haven’t stopped. They’ve sent videos, messages, and made public appeals to help find a match for the man many credit with helping shape their careers. “Every video coming in is saying how much he’s helped them,” said Arianna Lacerte, Ed’s daughter. “This is their opportunity to give it back and show their love and support for him.” The campaign is being run in partnership with the NMDP (formerly Be The Match), the largest blood stem cell registry in the world. The NBA, USA Basketball, and the National Basketball Athletic Trainers Association (NBATA) are also on board, encouraging fans to register as potential donors. All it takes is a cheek swab — just 20 seconds, as the Celtics pointed out in shooting shirts worn before their Dec. 15 game against the Pistons. “20 seconds could save a life,” the shirts read, with Lacerte’s name across the back. Registration drives have been held at TD Garden in Boston, the Celtics’ practice facility, the NBA’s New York headquarters, and are planned for other NBA arenas this season. The Indiana Pacers will host a drive at their Jan. 31 home game. The registry is especially seeking young, diverse donors between 18 and 35. Because matches are based on genetics, the more ethnically diverse the registry becomes, the better the odds for Lacerte — and thousands of others like him. “Ed’s story is a really unique opportunity,” said Jamie Margolis, NMDP’s senior VP of donor operations. “That’s the NBA audience — young, diverse, and committed. The greater good here is massive.” Lacerte's diagnosis came as a shock. He had just traveled to New York City to watch his son Devin run the marathon and was making travel plans for upcoming USA Basketball assignments. But his health rapidly declined in the weeks that followed. On Nov. 21, doctors confirmed the leukemia diagnosis. Within days, his daughter Arianna moved up her wedding, and longtime friend Josh Corbeil — now head athletic trainer for the Pacers — flew in to be by his side. Corbeil met Lacerte while in grad school in the early 2000s. Lacerte hired him as an intern with the Celtics, then later connected him directly to Larry Bird. That referral launched Corbeil’s career with the Pacers, where he’s been for 22 years. “He just set the table for the rest of my life,” Corbeil said. That generosity is a recurring theme. Lacerte is known as a quiet giant in his field — someone who mentored hundreds, cared for athletes like family, and remained deeply involved in the NBATA even after leaving the Celtics in 2017. The NBATA’s top annual award for trainers is now named in his honor. Lacerte served as athletic trainer for the original 1992 “Dream Team” and worked with multiple Olympic, World Cup, and All-Star squads over his career. He joined USA Basketball full-time in 2018 and was most recently the head trainer for the 2020 USA AmeriCup team. “He’s someone who has built four families,” said Dave Weiss, the NBA’s EVP of operations. “His own, the NBA family, the Celtics family, and USA Basketball. He just commands respect, not by demanding it, but by being a really high-character person.” At home, his kids call him “Grandpa Beach” for his love of the coast. Even as he undergoes chemotherapy at Massachusetts General Hospital, Lacerte is still coaching and mentoring — this time urging people to swab their cheeks and join the registry. Doctors are standing by to perform the transplant as soon as a match is found. Because Lacerte’s HLA typing is rare, time is of the essence. Margolis said more than 360 people have already joined the registry since Lacerte’s story was shared in December. But more are needed. “Ed’s cells could come from anywhere in the world,” Margolis said. “And every new registration helps not just Ed, but thousands of others.” To learn more or sign up as a potential donor, visit nmdp.org/nba. “Ideally we find a match for my dad,” Arianna said. “But I think a legacy that he’d be so proud of, in addition to his incredible career, is the ability to help save so many others’ lives.”

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This Former Police K9 is Sniffing Out Solutions To Save Honeybees

In Michigan, a former police dog is now playing a vital role in protecting the bees. Maple, a nearly 10-year-old English Springer Spaniel, has been trained to detect American foulbrood (AFB), a devastating bacterial disease that affects honeybee colonies. The highly contagious spores attack bee larvae and can wipe out entire hives if not caught early. But while human inspectors can take days to manually inspect hundreds of colonies, Maple can do the job much faster — and possibly save thousands of bees in the process. She works with her trainer, Michigan State University (MSU) alum Sue Stejskal, at the university’s Pollinator Performance Center. Outfitted with her own beekeeping suit, Maple sniffs her way through apiaries, identifying hives that may be infected with AFB. “She’s really good at her job,” Stejskal told MSU Today, adding that using dogs like Maple allows for faster, less invasive inspections that minimize disturbance to the bees. Maple isn’t new to scent work. Before this role, she was a K-9 search and rescue dog trained to find missing persons. But after an injury forced her into early retirement, she was retrained to support bee conservation efforts — a critical task as global pollinator populations continue to decline. She’s not alone. In North Carolina, Darwin, a German shorthaired pointer, is also using his nose to help bees. He was trained by Jacqueline Staab, a bee researcher at Appalachian State University, to locate underground bee nests. Staab got the idea after reading a 2011 scientific paper about a military dog in the UK trained to sniff out bees. “Working with Darwin is really cool because he's always super motivated, super positive, ready to go,” Staab said in an interview with WCNC. The stakes are high. Bees pollinate about 35 percent of the world’s food supply, according to the National Institute of Food and Agriculture. But climate change, pesticide use, habitat loss, and disease are all threatening their survival. The result isn’t just fewer bees — it’s a potential crisis for global food security. That’s where dogs like Maple and Darwin come in. By detecting problems early, they’re helping researchers and beekeepers stay ahead of threats that could devastate bee populations. And they're proving that when it comes to conservation, some of the best partners are four-legged.

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Finland Integrates AI Literacy Into Schools to Combat Fake News Starting at Age 3

While much of the world is still catching up to the threat of AI-generated fake news, Finland is already teaching its preschoolers how to spot it. The Nordic country has long been a global leader in media literacy. Since the 1990s, its national curriculum has included lessons in spotting disinformation, understanding media bias, and verifying online content. Now, with deepfakes and generative AI tools becoming more sophisticated—and more accessible—Finland is taking the next step: AI literacy for all students, starting as early as age 3. “We think that having good media literacy skills is a very big civic skill,” said Kiia Hakkala, a pedagogical specialist for the City of Helsinki. “It’s very important to the nation’s safety and to the safety of our democracy.” From Fake News to Fake Faces At Tapanila Primary School in northern Helsinki, fourth-grade students recently huddled in front of a classroom TV as their teacher, Ville Vanhanen, guided them through a “Fact or Fiction?” exercise. Ten-year-old Ilo Lindgren, asked to assess whether a news story was real or not, admitted it wasn’t always easy. “It is a little bit hard,” he said. Vanhanen, who is also the school’s vice principal, said these students have been building their media literacy for years, starting with basic headline analysis and learning to question online content. But now the focus is shifting to artificial intelligence. “We’ve been studying how to recognise if a picture or a video is made by AI,” he explained. These lessons are part of Finland’s broader response to a fast-changing information landscape, especially in the wake of Russia’s disinformation campaigns following its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Finland shares a 1,340-kilometre border with Russia, and in 2023, its decision to join NATO only heightened tensions between the two countries. While Russia denies any interference, Finnish officials remain wary. Deepfakes and Democracy Finland’s commitment to media literacy goes well beyond the classroom. Every year, national media outlets participate in “Newspaper Week,” a program that distributes verified news to students across the country. In 2024, the major daily Helsingin Sanomat co-created a new “ABC Book of Media Literacy,” given to every 15-year-old as they began upper secondary school. “It’s really important for us to be seen as a place where you can get information that’s been verified, that you can trust, and that’s done by people you know in a transparent way,” said the paper’s managing editor, Jussi Pullinen. Education Minister Anders Adlercreutz says the rise of AI and deepfake technology poses a direct threat to democratic institutions. “I don’t think we envisioned that the world would look like this,” he said. “That we would be bombarded with disinformation, that our institutions are challenged—our democracy really challenged—through disinformation.” Preparing for a More Complex Future The concern isn’t just about today’s deepfakes, which are often still relatively easy to spot. The real challenge, experts say, is what’s coming next. “It already is much harder in the information space to spot what’s real and what’s not real,” said Martha Turnbull, director of hybrid influence at the European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats, based in Helsinki. “It just so happens that right now, it’s reasonably easy to spot the AI-generated fakes because the quality of them isn’t as good as it could be.” She warned that future AI models—especially those with more autonomy and advanced capabilities—will make detection far more difficult. As AI-generated content grows more convincing and widespread, Finland hopes early education can build lifelong habits of critical thinking. The goal isn’t just to spot a fake video or story, but to create a society that values truth, transparency, and trusted information. For Finnish students like Lindgren, it’s a lesson with real-world stakes. “We have to know what’s real and what’s fake,” he said. In Finland, that lesson starts early.

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Warm Hugs Boost Brain's Feel-Good Response

New scientific findings are challenging the long-held belief that body temperature is purely about physical regulation. Instead, researchers are highlighting a deeper, more personal role: shaping how we experience our own bodies and, by extension, who we are. A review published in Trends in Cognitive Sciences examines thermoception—our ability to sense temperature changes on the skin—and how it influences our sense of self. The research points to a surprising conclusion: warmth and cold aren’t just sensory experiences, but key components of how we perceive and connect with our own bodies. “Temperature is one of our most ancient senses,” said Dr. Laura Crucianelli, a psychologist at Queen Mary University of London and co-lead author of the study. “Warmth is one of the earliest signals of protection—we feel it in the womb, in early caregiving, and whenever someone holds us close. It keeps us alive, but it also helps us feel like ourselves.” Crucianelli, along with Professor Gerardo Salvato from the University of Pavia, pulled from decades of neuroscience, psychology, and clinical studies to argue that thermoception plays a central role in bodily self-awareness. From Survival to Self-Perception While it's easy to associate thermal sensation with basic comfort—like cold hands in winter or a hot shower after a long day—the review suggests it also plays a much more intimate role. Thermal signals influence emotional stability, personal identity, and even mental health. For example, people with mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, trauma-related disorders, and eating disorders often report feeling disconnected from their bodies. This feeling of disembodiment is now being linked to how the brain processes thermal cues. “People with altered temperature regulation and temperature perception, due to a brain stroke, may develop pathological conditions according to which they do not recognize part of their bodies as belonging to themselves,” said Dr. Salvato. “This shows how fundamental thermal signals are to the brain’s sense of body ownership.” Practical Implications: From Prosthetics to Therapy The study’s insights open up wide-ranging real-world applications. In neurological rehabilitation, for instance, a better understanding of thermal feedback could improve therapies for stroke survivors or people living with body integrity disorders. For those with prosthetic limbs, replicating natural temperature cues might help make prosthetics feel more like real parts of the body. If a limb can respond not just to movement but to warmth or cold, it could strengthen the brain’s sense of body ownership. And in mental health, the findings may lead to new sensory-based therapies that use temperature—such as warm touch or cooling sensations—as a way to reconnect people with their physical selves. Crucianelli and Salvato also point to an emerging question: how might climate change and rising global temperatures affect how people feel in their own skin? If heat and cold are tied to emotional stability and bodily awareness, then extreme environments could carry unexpected psychological effects. Why a Warm Hug Feels So Good If this all sounds abstract, think about a hug. “When we hug, the combination of tactile and thermal signals increases our sense of body ownership, so we are more connected to our embodied sense of self,” said Dr. Crucianelli. “Feeling warm touch on the skin enhances our ability to sense ourselves from the inside and recognize our own existence. We feel, ‘this is my body, and I am grounded in it.’” That sensation comes from specialized nerve fibers—called C-tactile afferents—along with temperature-sensitive pathways that send signals to a region of the brain called the insular cortex. This area helps monitor internal bodily states and contributes to emotional regulation. Warm touch has also been linked to the release of oxytocin, a hormone tied to bonding and reduced stress levels. In effect, warmth brings us back to ourselves, physically and emotionally. “Warm touch reminds us that we are connected, valued, and part of a social world,” Crucianelli added. “Humans are wired for social closeness, and hugs briefly dissolve the boundary between ‘self’ and ‘other’.” A New Direction in Body-Brain Research This growing body of research suggests that the signals from our skin are not just physical—they’re personal. Whether through everyday temperature changes or warm contact from others, the body is constantly shaping how the brain understands who we are. By paying more attention to thermoception, scientists hope to unlock better tools for healing minds, designing smarter technologies, and understanding the many subtle ways the body and brain talk to each other every day.

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How This Young Artisan is Reviving the Blacksmithing Craft With Pride

At a time when most 21-year-olds are still figuring out what they want to do, Jay Cardall already knows. He wants to be a blacksmith. For life. “It’s an amazing job,” he said. “There’s never two days the same—never.” Jay joined Mather of Tibshelf, a traditional blacksmithing business in Derbyshire, in April 2024. The company operates out of a smithy that’s been in use since the 1600s. A year and a half in, he’s already forging his own path in one of the UK’s rarest and oldest trades. Before taking up the hammer and anvil, Jay was working through an apprenticeship in joinery. But as the end of his course neared, he realised the work felt too repetitive. “I became bored of the trade,” he said. That’s when he messaged Stephen Beckett, director of Mather of Tibshelf, asking if there might be a place for him at the forge. Beckett said yes—and Jay hasn’t looked back since. Blacksmithing might seem like an unusual career choice for someone so young, but that’s exactly what appealed to him. “A young person in blacksmithing is very rarely heard,” he said. “So it's weird calling myself a blacksmith, but it's also a very proud thing because it is a unique job.” And it is rare. According to national charity Heritage Craft, fewer than 500 people are currently training to become blacksmiths in the UK. At Mather of Tibshelf, the work is as varied as it is hands-on. The team takes on jobs ranging from repairs on mobility scooters to restoration work at stately homes like Kedleston Hall. For Jay, the variety is a big part of the draw. Some days he’s making bottle openers. Other days, he’s working on large-scale gates. His favourite project so far? A job at Repton Prep School. “Everything just seemed to work out perfectly,” he said. “The scale of the job and the detail that went into the design—that’s what made it impressive.” Jay lives in Morton, Derbyshire, and says most of his peers work in factories, pubs, or fast-food restaurants—jobs that never really appealed to him. “I need to get my hands dirty,” he said. “I’ve always been that type of person where if I’m not working and I’m not going home with my hands dirty and putting marks up my mum’s walls, then I think it wouldn’t be for me.” The job is physically demanding, but that’s part of what makes it satisfying. At the end of the day, there’s something to show for it: a piece of metal, reshaped by fire and force, turned into something useful or beautiful—or both. He may have stumbled into blacksmithing by chance, but he’s already thinking long term. “I’d be happy if I retired as a blacksmith,” he said. And if the past year and a half is any indication, he’s just getting warmed up.

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New Study Suggests Traditional Chinese Medicine May Improve Personalized Depression Treatment

Treating major depressive disorder (MDD) remains one of the biggest challenges in mental health care. It’s a condition that already ranks among the leading causes of disability globally, and by 2030, researchers expect it to become the most common—and costly—illness in the world. Despite the wide range of available antidepressants, nearly one in three patients don’t improve after their first medication. What follows is often a frustrating, months-long process of trial and error. Part of the problem is that most treatment decisions still rely on symptoms and clinical experience—not on biological tools that can predict what will actually work for each individual. But a new study published in General Psychiatry suggests that combining traditional Chinese medicine with brain imaging may point the way to more personalized care. A Head-to-Head Trial: Herbal Remedy vs. Antidepressant In a carefully designed clinical trial, researchers in China tested the effectiveness of a traditional Chinese herbal remedy called Yueju Pill against escitalopram, a widely prescribed antidepressant. The study included 28 adults diagnosed with MDD. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups: one received Yueju Pill along with a placebo for escitalopram, while the other received escitalopram plus a placebo for Yueju Pill. Neither the participants nor the researchers knew who was receiving which treatment—a standard double-blind method that helps ensure unbiased results. Both groups showed improvement after treatment, based on scores from the Hamilton Depression Scale, a widely used measure of depression severity. In other words, both medications helped relieve symptoms. But when researchers looked beyond symptoms—at the biological changes occurring in patients’ brains and blood—a clearer picture began to emerge. Yueju Pill Boosted a Key Brain Protein Only patients treated with Yueju Pill showed a significant increase in a brain protein called BDNF, or brain-derived neurotrophic factor. BDNF supports the growth and connectivity of brain cells and has been closely linked to mood regulation. Previous studies have shown that people with depression often have lower BDNF levels. That jump in BDNF could be meaningful. While escitalopram helped reduce symptoms, it didn’t produce the same increase in this important brain chemical. The finding hints that Yueju Pill may influence brain biology in a distinct and potentially beneficial way. Brain Scans Offer a Glimpse Into Treatment Response Researchers also conducted MRI brain scans before and after treatment to look at structural changes and patterns of brain connectivity. What they found could pave the way for a new kind of antidepressant matchmaking. In both groups, brain imaging revealed certain networks of brain structures that were linked to changes in depression severity. But in the Yueju Pill group, the scans revealed something more specific. Only among Yueju Pill users did researchers find predictive brain patterns based on two features: sulcus depth (how deeply the brain folds) and cortical thickness (how thick the outer brain layer is). Both are thought to reflect developmental and functional properties of the brain. The visual network—the part of the brain involved in processing visual information—also stood out. In the Yueju group, changes in this network predicted both symptom improvement and BDNF increases. This was not seen in the escitalopram group. A Step Toward Personalized Treatment This kind of research is still in its early stages, and the trial was small. But the implications are big. If future studies confirm these findings, brain scans could one day help doctors predict who will respond best to treatments like Yueju Pill. “The brain networks can then be fed to the predictive models constructed in this study to predict patients' responses to Yueju Pill treatment,” said Dr. Zhang, the study’s lead author. “Based on the predicted responses, we can then determine whether the patient is suitable for Yueju Pill treatment.” That kind of precision could shorten the frustrating trial-and-error period for patients with depression and offer new hope for those who don’t respond to standard antidepressants. By blending traditional remedies with advanced imaging, the study also highlights a broader shift in medicine—one that values both ancient knowledge and cutting-edge science. For depression, a disorder that defies one-size-fits-all solutions, that approach could make all the difference.

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Could This Simple Change to a Standing Desk Make Workdays Healthier?

Working from home has become the norm for many, but it may be quietly reshaping our health. A Recent Australian survey estimates that more than 6.7 million people, nearly half the country's workforce, now work remotely at least some of the time. The shift has brought flexibility, but it’s also made it easier to fall into an all-too-familiar trap: sitting all day. Without the built-in movement of a commute or walking between meetings, many remote workers go from desk to couch with barely a step in between. And that’s a problem. Long periods of sitting have been linked to a range of poor health outcomes, including cardiovascular issues, reduced metabolism, and higher blood sugar levels. So could a treadmill desk—one of those under-desk walking pads that let you move while you work—actually make a difference? Researchers think so. “There’s now strong evidence that short, frequent walking breaks throughout the day can improve your health more than one longer exercise session,” said Christian Brakenridge, a research fellow at the Iverson Health Innovation Research Institute at Swinburne University of Technology. The World Health Organization has updated its guidance to reflect this shift, scrapping its old rule that physical activity should be done in 10-minute blocks. Now, it says “every move counts.” Studies suggest that walking around 7,000 steps a day is a good target to help prevent chronic diseases. And while that might sound like a lot, researchers say it doesn’t have to be done all at once. Regular, small walking breaks can add up—and a treadmill desk might make it easier to sneak those steps in while staying productive. There aren’t many studies specifically focused on treadmill desks, but the ones that do exist are promising. Some show benefits for blood pressure, cholesterol, metabolism, and even body fat—particularly for people with obesity. One study found office workers using treadmill desks increased their daily steps by 1,600 to 4,500 compared to those who stayed sedentary. Another showed a modest but measurable 1.9 percent reduction in body fat among overweight and obese physicians who used treadmill desks over time. Still, it's not a silver bullet. One trial found that people struggled to juggle a busy work schedule with the treadmill, even though they were able to walk for an average of 43 extra minutes each day. And while walking doesn’t seem to affect overall cognitive performance, it can make tasks like mouse control or typing less precise. In other words, if your job involves a lot of fine motor work—design, spreadsheets, or editing—it might be worth using a walking pad for calls or reading tasks, and switching back to a regular chair for more detailed work. Voice-to-text tools may offer a helpful workaround. Most computers, including Macs and Chromebooks, now come with built-in dictation features. As for cost, basic walking pads start around A$180–200, but more robust models suitable for running or extended use can cost $1,000 or more. And you’ll likely need a height-adjustable desk too. If that sounds like a steep investment, it might be worth testing the concept first. Take regular breaks from your desk and walk around during phone calls or while reading. Even brief walks have been shown to improve glucose control and blood flow, especially when they break up long bouts of sitting. For those who struggle to fit exercise into their day, a treadmill desk can act as a visual cue and a gentle nudge to keep moving. But for everyone else, the most important takeaway might be simpler: don’t underestimate the power of small steps. “You don’t have to completely restructure your day,” said Brakenridge. “Even small changes in physical activity can make a real difference—especially for people who are very sedentary.” So whether it’s a treadmill under your desk or a short stroll around the block, every step counts.

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Utah Just Restored Over 140,000 Acres in a Major Wildlife and Watershed Recovery Push

Utah has hit a major milestone in its fight to reverse habitat loss and restore damaged ecosystems. Between July 2024 and June 2025, the state restored or improved more than 144,000 acres of land, according to a new report from the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. The work was part of Utah’s long-running Watershed Restoration Initiative, a collaborative effort to improve water quality, wildlife habitat, and landscape health across the state. The past year’s restoration total included 13,960 acres that had been scorched by wildfires. In total, the initiative completed 120 habitat restoration projects, improved 142 miles of streams, and scattered nearly 744,000 pounds of seed across damaged or degraded areas. Officials say the projects not only helped wildlife but also supported roughly 539 jobs statewide. “It takes a great deal of coordination and funding to make these projects possible, and we are very grateful to our many partners and their continued support,” said Tyler Thompson, the program’s director, in a statement. “These efforts are vital for maintaining healthy ecosystems.” Much of the work focused on repairing damage caused by recent wildfires. According to St. George News, this included aerial seeding, removing tree species that threaten native sagebrush habitats, planting new shrubs and grasses, and using controlled burns to reduce the risk of future fires. In addition to land-based projects, the initiative used artificial beaver dam structures to slow stream erosion and boost water quality — a nature-inspired solution that’s becoming more popular in dry western landscapes. Partners like the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation say this kind of large-scale habitat work is crucial for supporting species like elk, mule deer, and other native wildlife. It also helps stabilize soil, reduce erosion, and protect critical water sources that nearby communities rely on. The scale of Utah’s effort stands out at a time when climate change and biodiversity loss are accelerating around the globe. Since the initiative began in 2006, nearly 3 million acres of land in Utah have been restored or improved. As pressure mounts on ecosystems worldwide, experts say these kinds of proactive restoration projects — from dam removals to nature reserve creation — are becoming more urgent and more valuable. And for everyday Utahns, the state says it’s still possible to make a difference: by getting involved in local restoration efforts, sharing environmental knowledge with others, and advocating for the natural systems that support clean water, food security, and biodiversity.

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Scientists Discover 'Junk' DNA May Contain Alzheimer's Triggers

Australian scientists have uncovered more than 150 gene control signals in brain cells that could help explain how Alzheimer’s disease takes hold—and how we might one day fight it. The research, led by a team at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), zeroes in on specialized brain cells called astrocytes. These star-shaped cells don’t carry signals the way neurons do, but they play a key support role—and in Alzheimer’s, that role often collapses. In healthy brains, astrocytes help keep neurons functioning smoothly. But in Alzheimer’s, they can stop being helpful and even start causing harm. “We often end up with changes not within genes so much, but in-between,” said Irina Voineagu, a molecular biologist at UNSW. “That’s where enhancers live.” Enhancers are parts of our DNA that don’t code for proteins but play a powerful role in switching genes on or off. Think of them as the dials and levers in our biological control panel—signals that tweak how genes behave. The problem is, they often sit far away from the genes they control, making them tricky to track down. To do that, the researchers used a tool called CRISPRi, which can silence pieces of DNA without actually cutting them. They applied it to astrocytes grown in the lab, testing nearly 1,000 DNA regions suspected of acting as enhancers. “We used CRISPRi to turn off potential enhancers in the astrocytes to see whether it changed gene expression,” said Nicole Green, a molecular geneticist at UNSW. “And if it did, then we knew we’d found a functional enhancer and could then figure out which gene—or genes—it controls.” They found 150 regions that fit the bill. What stood out was how many of these control signals were connected to genes already known to be involved in Alzheimer’s. This is where things get interesting. These enhancers live in what’s sometimes called “junk DNA”—the parts of the genome that don’t make proteins. But it turns out, there’s nothing junky about them. They’re crucial to regulating how and when genes are used, especially in highly specialized cells like astrocytes. “We’re not talking about therapies yet,” Voineagu said, “but you can’t develop them unless you first understand the wiring diagram. That’s what this gives us—a deeper view into the circuitry of gene control in astrocytes.” In other words, scientists now have a clearer picture of how the machinery inside astrocytes is wired—and how that wiring can go wrong in Alzheimer’s. There’s still a lot to untangle. For one, it’s not yet clear how these enhancers behave when astrocytes become overactive, which is what happens in Alzheimer’s. That’s a key next step. Researchers also want to know if the same enhancers are active in different types of brain cells or only in astrocytes. What this study does offer is a new blueprint. It shows how scientists can use tools like CRISPRi to pinpoint gene regulators in living brain cells. That opens the door to developing better AI systems to spot these enhancer regions across the genome and potentially uncover new targets for drugs. Alzheimer’s is a complex disease with many moving parts—genetic, environmental, and biological. But figuring out how astrocytes are regulated is a big piece of the puzzle. As scientists learn more about the genetic “switches” that control these cells, they get one step closer to understanding how to stop them from flipping the wrong way. The findings were published in Nature Neuroscience.

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