North America is graced with the presence of the oldest single tree, the oldest tree colony, the tallest tree, and the largest tree by wood volume. But it’s India where one must go to stand beneath the world’s largest tree canopy. At two and a half times the size of...
(Research and writing contributed by Robby Berman) A huge donation from MacKenzie Scott is uplifting a unique organization in New York, so they can transform the lives of even more people who’ve struggling through mental health problems. The former wife of Amazon.com...
A ten-year-old girl waiting for a heart transplant missed out on her school’s father-daughter dance—so the staff recreated the magic in a hospital. Ava Cooper was born in 2014 with several heart defects and had her first open-heart surgery when she was six days old....
A sprightly senior who says she loves to “dance and party” told her care-givers that she wanted to hold a rave to celebrate her 105th birthday. So last Tuesday, Hilda Jackson swapped her walker for glowsticks and UV paint as a DJ descended on the Holbrook Hall Care...
A pair of nonprofits have teamed up to help zero out medical debt balances for over 1,000 working families in Maine. Mainers for Working Families (MFWF) and Undue Medical Debt partnered together in the effort to help families in the state breathe a little easier....
King Tutankhamon is famous for many things, but what most know about the discovery of his unlooted tomb is that it was the last time archaeologists found the tomb of a pharaoh. Now, 103 years since Howard Carter cracked open King Tut’s final resting place, the tomb of...
Despite holding the presidency of the student council and being voted most likely to succeed, 16-year-old Shawn Moyer had his prom night invitation declined. Moyer needed a backup, and though he didn’t know it at the time, the young lady with ringlet curls and an...
Martial arts teachers are quick to teach their students that what they learn in class is not to be used on other people except in emergencies. Recently, a Philadelphia Karate practitioner nicely demonstrated this by swooping in “like a ninja,” thwacking a robber on...
Imprisoned in a “miscarriage of justice,” a Hawaii man has been released from prison after DNA evidence exonerated him. Behind bars for 30 years, Gordon Cordeiro’s first desire was to visit the grave of his mother, who died of ALS just before he was arrested. Cordeiro...
Can you remember the day, perhaps the moment, you met the person who would become your spouse? Well for an unnamed Chinese woman, it’s a day extremely difficult to forget—because she probably thought it would be her last. Whilst crossing the street on an electric...
From the rooftop of a Rio de Janeiro slum, amid sheet after sheet of corrugated iron, one man reclines amid succulents and ficus. His name is Luis Cassiano Silva, and he is the progenitor of the Teto Verde Favela, or Green Roofs Favela initiative, described by one...
With Japanese know-how and the unwavering support of Japanese experts, Bhutan’s national bird is being hatched and hand-reared in captivity successfully for the first time ever. The major hurdle to rearing chicks was overcome, and two healthy birds were just...
An article at Our World in Data recently explored trends in air quality across a selection of high and middle-income countries, and found that not only is the West breathing better air than at perhaps any point since urbanization, but that developing nations likely...
From the Magazine of the Archaeological Institute of America comes the jaw-dropping chronicle of an Egyptian temple, once covered in dirt and soot, that’s now revealing an ancient creation myth and the cult that worshiped it. Located far in the south, confusingly...
What do you get when you cross some good eggs with a fire? In Los Angeles County, you get much-needed relief. In the wake of the Palisades and Altadena fires, and amid continual rising prices for eggs at the supermarket, a California farm has donated 324,000 eggs to...
A young Australian ecologist travels from town to town building bee “hotels” and educating children and adults alike about the importance of making room for native insects. Australia has a high prevalence of solitary bee species: that is, bees that don’t live in...
A young woman who has survived cancer three times has become a paramedic so she can ‘give back’ to the National Health Service in England, and serve other patients who are going through the same thing. Katherine Murrell was first diagnosed with cancer when she was...
From Canada comes the story of a lost work of art, the bargain-bin bounty of a lifetime, and a connection that bloomed into a friendship across 1,200 miles. Nova Scotian applied artist Sydney Blum was packaging two of her signature plates of color-phase tiles for...
As the hours ticked by, superintendent Joseph Hattrick was flummoxed by the sheer number of cards and papers lined with cut-out hearts and birds, colored all over with heartfelt messages. Hundreds began to pile up in his office—all saying the same thing: “Thank you,...
A dyslexic Englishman who was never properly taught how to read in school has finally been able to enjoy a copy of a magazine he bought in 1985. Ted Midgely has learned how to read at 58 years old thanks to the help of a tutor, who told the BBC that adults without the...
A tribal-led nonprofit is creating a network of native bison ranchers that are restoring ecosystems on the Great Plains, restoring native ranchers’ connections with their ancestral land, and restoring the native diet that their ancestors relied on. Called the Tanka...
When it comes to archaeological discoveries, few things excite as much as a soldier’s helmet. The epitome of looking into the face of the past, they’ve helped historians infer so much about ancient and medieval warfare. Recently in Denmark, archaeologists became...
The world’s oldest known bird has returned to her home island to hatch yet another chick, at nearly 74 years old. Named Wisdom, the Laysan albatross has been spotted this month caring for her youngster on Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge in the Pacific Ocean....
Any parent knows the heartbreak of a child losing their favorite stuffed animal. But thanks to a little airport magic, this drama has a “hoppy” ending! Well-worn, with long gray ears, Bunny—its real name—was turned into Patti Getty, who has worked for 11 years at the...
