Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson isn’t a stranger to surprising people, but for one particular charity worker, Yuri Williams, he was going to be gifted with something he would have never thought possible.

He was given an opportunity to meet the former WWE wrestler, and while that was already a once-in-a-lifetime moment, Williams was going to get so much more than just a handshake from the “Black Adam” star.

The movie “Black Adam” was about to hit the big screen and The Rock decided to surprise Williams on live TV, bringing him back to the Good Morning America studio to provide him with special tickets to the premiere. This was all to bring awareness to Williams’ charity work, as well as provide him with a new superhero suit for Williams to add to his costume collection.

While Williams plays the role of a charity worker every day, he also plays the role of a number of superheroes like Spiderman, The Mandalorian, Deadpool and more. His choice to wear these costumes is to bring joy to those in need, regardless of whether they’re sick children, homeless people, veterans, or the elderly.

According to a report in Good News Network, Williams’ charity is called A Future Superhero and Friends, which aims to organize blood drives, toy drives, youth art fairs, provide school supply giveaways, and much more. And moreover, they’ve done this in all the 50 states of the country. Although a lot of the charity work he does consists of visiting children with special needs or those who suffer from serious illnesses.

According to Katrina Morgan, whose son has a cleft lip, said, “Yuri’s literally like the first person to put a smile on A.J.’s face.”

In a report by ABC News, another mom, Marina Moore, spoke about the way Williams has helped a number of parents and kids. She told Good Morning America, “It’s the things that Yuri is doing that a lot of these kids are going to remember for your life.”

She added, “When we opened up that door, that great big man standing there with his Mandalorian, the kids were just ecstatic, especially these little guys. Super, super excited.”

Another mom, Katrina Morris, also told GMA that Williams helped her son during his cancer journey.

She explained, “With all the stuff that happened with AJ, he came around Christmas and surprised him with gifts he wanted. I will never forget that day.”

Williams also talked about the way he feels touched by all the families and young kids he’s helped. He said, “It’s just like a superhero power energy that I feel from them. You know, me going into these homes knowing that this child might not be able to see Christmas, that minute or a couple of minutes that I’m there, I just want to make it a special moment for them.”

Williams explains that his charity was birthed from his own struggles with depression after the passing of his own mother from cancer back in 2009. That’s when he decided that one positive way to get through and recover from the loss of his mom was ‘to channel his pain into relieving others.’

During the Good Morning America segment, The Rock told Williams, “We’ve never met until now, but I’m really so proud of you brother and the work that you do because I always like to say, this kind of stuff you’re doing, that’s the best part of fame.”

The Rock has had an amazing rise to fame as Hollywood’s highest paid actor, mostly due to his infectious and boisterous personality. Sometimes, that infectious joy includes giving big hugs or surprise gifts to a fan or a hero, like Williams.

Back in January, The Rock also surprised another fan, who happened to be a Navy Veteran, by giving him the keys to one of his very own pickup trucks. And it probably won’t be the last time that Johnson does this for someone deserving.

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With the no-fishing zones successfully being put into place, according to new research, these mandates have allowed the number of tuna to be restored, while also boosting the fishing industry at the same time.

Research has proven that the no-fishing zones have helped sedentary marine life like lobsters and coral. Now, scientists from the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa have also shown that for the first time, these orders are working to help migrating fish to journey immensely long distances.

Before, many people thought that there could be no large enough marine protected area (MPA) that could protect a species that was known to travel incredibly long distances, as the tuna does. But as for the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, it not only happens to be four times the size of California, it’s also the world’s biggest no-fishing zone.

As for scientists working on fishing boats near those particular waters, but outside the area, documented 54% more yellowfin tuna that were caught, as well as 12% more bigeye tuna, as well as an 8% increase catch rate for all other species.

Moreover, these no-fishing zones also have huge economic benefits. Globally, the tuna fishing industry generates almost $40 billion a year, while supporting millions of jobs all across the world.

The research team wrote in Nature journal that these amazing and positive results are probably due to the tuna fish being homebodies, which means that they mostly live their entire lives in the same area.

Professor Jennifer Raynor at the University of Wisconsin and co-author of the paper said, “Over the past 30 years, we have learned that tunas do not venture as far away from home as we once thought. The Hawai’ian Islands are a nursery for baby yellowfin tuna, and it turns out that many of these fish stay in the region.”

In addition, the zones also have a cultural impact since yellowfin tuna and bigeye tuna, also known as ‘ahi, have been historically central to Hawai’i’s culture and diet.

Co-author Sarah Medoff, at the Univ. of Hawai’i Mānoa, shared, “Being born and raised in Hawaii, I know how important ʻahi is to the community here. It’s not just something eaten in fancy sushi restaurants, it’s the focal point of family gatherings, weddings, birthdays, graduation ceremonies and New Year’s Eve parties.”

She added, “It’s reassuring to know that the monument is protecting this resource for my own children and for future generations.”

When the Papahānaumokuākea was first created back in 2006 and expanded in 2016, it wasn’t to generate benefits for the local tuna fishery. It was mean to protect the biological and cultural resources that live in its deep blue waters.

The area also happens to be sacred to the Native Hawai’ians that co-manage the monument with both the state and federal government of Hawai’i.

As for Professor Kekuewa Kikiloi from the Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa, who wasn’t involved with the study, explained that the research shows just how important these protected areas of the Pacific Ocean are.

Prof. Kikiloi stated, “This research by Medoff et al. reaffirms the value of large scale marine protected areas in the Pacific. The protections that were fought for by Native Hawai’ians and other stakeholders for Papahānaumokuākea serve to benefit everyone, including fishing interests.”

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These days, it’s all about harnessing the power of nature to provide electricity. The most commonly used type of power is solar. However, there are also other sources that can be just as efficient, and when combined with other types, these can power commercial spaces and still go green.

Companies are trying to outdo each other by designing power supplies that are efficient and safe. If these grow in popularity, the world may someday be completely independent and no longer need fuel to power homes and establishments.

Your traditional wind turbine is huge. Many out in the market now are roughly as tall as the Statue of Liberty. And because these use wind for power, the blades they come with stretch wide, oftentimes wider than a football field. There are also those that are bigger. An example would be the offshore turbine used by Siemens. This comes with a 774-foot-wide rotor.

However, a company has made changes with their design and gone better. Theirs is a 10-by-10 foot turbine, which is relatively tiny compared to what their used to. The best part is that these don’t have built-in moving blades. From afar, you wouldn’t think that this innovation uses wind energy. What they have is a small bladeless box that that has the ability to provide more power than 15 solar panels.

The said turbines are designed for small-scale, commercial use. These are quiet and because there are no blades, birds are completely safe to fly as close to them as possible. The turbines sit on the edge of roofs and will work especially well when combined with solar panels. If you want the building to be completely self-sufficient, then you can also have batteries installed in order to store the energy.

Right now, there is a competition for the best type of innovation in renewable energy. Companies are trying to speed up their work and research in order to provide the world with what it most needs. While solar energy does have its perks, wind power, on the other hand, is often times ridden criticism. That’s because the unorthodox ones often are a danger to the wildlife. Plus, these usually require a lot of maintenance from the user’s end.

However, this Aeromine is a boxy turbine that can generate energy in 50 percent greater amounts then a solar panel. When the wind is right and the weather is in perfect condition, this can give off 16 times more power.

Aeromine’s patented aerodynamic design can capture and amplify the airflow within a building using wind speeds as low as 5 m.p.h.. This works very much like the airfoils on a race car. And unlike the turbines that need the rotating rotor blades and many moving parts, these don’t come with maintenance issues. Aeromine is motionless and hardy, and this solution can generate more energy without the use of too much space.

More importantly, It won’t pose problems because when the wind strikes a flat building wall , it then accelerates and rushes up and over it. The turbines can capture the gusts via a small opening before it channels the force and bring it to an internal propeller found at the bottom of the unit.

“I like to think of this as kind of disruptive and complimentary to the solar business,”  said Aeromine cofounder and CEO David Asarnow told Fast Company. “Our production can be stronger. At the same time, when you pair the two, you really have a path for on-site energy independence.”

“The building amplifies the wind speed,” Asarnow shared. The wind that comes is brought in between two airfoils, which has been designed to be in the shape of airplane wings. “As the wind hits those airfoils, it creates a negative pressure that sucks the wind that’s hitting the building through an internal propeller on the bottom of the unit, which creates the energy production which connects directly to the building,” he added.

Asarnow also said that 20 or 40 that may be installed in walls of a building will have more space on the roof free for solar panels if the owner decides to also use these.

Aeromine is thinking about selling their creation to warehouses and other large flat-roofed commercial buildings. This is where their turbines will work best, and in the pilot study that they recently did, one of the units is being tested on the roof of a BASF factory that’s near Detroit.

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They say that kindness begins at home. This is trait that everyone should have, and this comes easily for some people, children oftentimes are just too engaged with play that they don’t often think about acts of charity. Instead, they’re just living their lives and enjoying their childhood.

Then, there are those who have shown kindness even at such a young age. These young children should be shown to the world. They may inspire others to follow in their footsteps because, in reality, one is never too young to start helping.

One of these rare souls is a kind-hearted 11-year-old boy named Isaac Winfield. He celebrated his birthday and got money as a gift. He used his own cash to launch a foodbank service. This simple service  happens in his garden shed and the place has been filled with items that can truly help the people around.

What Isaac does is fill bags with groceries. Then, he goes around his hometown community and donates them or hands these out to those who need it the most. This foodbank has been around since 2020, and since then, the service has grown immensely. In fact, his family bought a shed just so he can store the hundreds of donated items that are now in his care.

Well-wishers can also do their share and donate food or ask for supplies. All they need to do is contact this young man through his Friends of Isaac Food Bank Facebook page. This is where they can get the details and get a reply from this charitable youth.

“We’d always donated to food banks, and during the pandemic he would take food parcels into school which would be given to people in need,” said Claire, Isaac’s mom and one of his biggest supporters. She shows pride when she talks about her little boy, as she should. In fact, she shared that Isaac had recently moved to a specialist school that didn’t have a program. This left him gravely depressed because he felt the need to continue and help people.

“Being the resilient little lad he is, he said ‘it’s alright, we’ll give them food at my house,’” shared Claire. “I was laughing, but he had just broken his arm so I let him do it to cheer him up. I doubled what money we gave them normally for food parcels and he went off to Aldi.”

As an answer to his conundrum, Isaac’s parents decided to give him a lift in the van during weekends. They repainted this and customized with his very recognizable rainbow logo. However, there are also times that Isaac takes the bags of groceries to people just on foot.

For the people who have an immediate need and are unable to wait for the delivery, they can simply go to Isaac’s foodbank shed in his hometown of Redditch, Worcester. The shed 24-hours-a-day and they can simply go there to help themselves. Hence, the food is available for anyone in need any time, night or day.

“With a little bit of help he put all the food he bought in a little greenhouse with some lights and started offering it from there,” Claire said as she reminisced. “Someone spotted it and put it on one of those Facebook community sites and it went mad. The greenhouse lasted four weeks before I had to go and get a shed because we ran out of room.”

Isaac is still planning to grow his project and wants to expand the service. He has now partnered with a local charity that will sponsor him to open a foodbank just in the area where he lives. But there’s also more to it than that. He has managed to attract the attention of big sponsors such as Morrison’s as well as a local charity called Building Bridges. With his backup, he is able to keep his foodbank fully operational.

YouTubers such as Mark McCann have seen what he’s done and has donated the van that they had decorated, which has been given fully-taxed and insured. This helps keep help mobile for Isaac, which is what he appreciates.

“We have the big shed on the driveway and operations will continue from the house. Luckily we have a big driveway.”

What many don’t know is that Isaac was born with a rare chromosome disease. Instead of keeping himself locked in the house, the foodbank he created has helped him immensely by giving him a confidence boost considering that he’s unable to read or write.

“For his 11th birthday he just wanted foodbank donations and [the shed] was absolutely rammed,” said Claire. “He just wanted to get as many donations in as possible to help as many people as he can.”

Isaac has been noticed. In fact, he was nominated for a local business award. With his achievements at such a young age, he doesn’t plan to stop. In fact, he dreams of opening his second foodbank in the town next month.

Isaac is the perfect example of a boy who can be who wants to be, despite the hurdles that have been given to him. He continues to dream big and he still wants to constantly provide help. He truly is a shining example of how one person can conquer all if you just put your mind to it and never give up.

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When it comes to repopulating the wilderness with animals, bands of people are coming together to save these dying creatures. The animals clearly need man’s intervention and if everything is done right, the balance that was once found in nature can finally be restored.

This balance may take years, but it’s always better to start somewhere. So many of the animals have lost their homes to give way to growth, and unfortunately, this causes a chain reaction that’s difficult to stop. But there is hope, especially for the vultures in Bulgaria.

There were two female Cinereous vultures and they flew into the vast skies of Bulgaria. This was a celebration indeed as it marked the culmination of a 7-year project that was extremely successful in completing its mission on September 3rd, “World Vulture Day.”

These Cinereous vultures (Aegypius monachus) are amongst the giants found in the European bird world. They have a length of around a meter or more and a wingspan of as much as to 2.85 meters. These are one of Europe’s largest and rarest birds of prey. In the continent, they have around 1000 pairs of them and most are found in Spain. As for their reintroduction in Balkan Mountains of Bulgaria, the project’s main goal is to support the southeastern European population of these kinds of vulture.

Because at the end of it all, there were only two of these birds found in the conservation aviary that was set in the Vrachanski Nature Park. This was in the western part of the Balkan Mountains. And while people did their best to protect the birds and put them in a safe place, the vultures also deserved to be in their natural habitat. So, the last two females were released as part of the EU-financed LIFE-Project. Their task was to repopulate the black vultures after the Bulgarian population had died out sixty years ago.

Since the year 2018, there were about 70 young black vultures that were released in several regions of the Balkan Mountains. “After all the reintroductions of recent years, the release of these last two female vultures was still something special,” said Hristo Peshev. He is from the Bulgarian partner organization the Fund for Wild Flora and Fauna. He is also one of the many biologists who were part of this very important project.

“It will be exciting to see how the vultures acclimatize to their new environment. I am confident that they will be successful, like the majority of the other vultures released into the wild,” Peshev said when he spoke to the nonprofit Euronatur.

There were isolated setbacks that happened but even with these incidents, the reintroduction project was considered “very successful” because these several pairs of the reintroduced birds already had offspring. They had given birth to their young this year and last year, which was sooner than they had all expected. Nonetheless, they wanted a strong foundation for them, and thankfully, they had all been laid.

The return of the Cinereous vulture in its usual home in the Balkan Mountains was the goal of the EU-funded LIFE-Project and it finally this year. The organizations involved were EuroNatur and two Bulgarian conservation organizations called Green Balkans and the Fund for Wild Flora and Fauna. They also had help with the Spanish regional government of Extremadura and the vulture experts of the Vulture Conservation Foundation.

This was EuroNatur’s priceless contribution as they had expertise in the natural regional development in the Balkans. Aside from the Cinereous vultures, they also wanted to reintroduce the Griffon vultures to the region. But this isn’t the only project set in place. The organization also has other goals and that is to make sure that the vultures have a steady food supply for the long haul. They also want to prevent the laying of poison bait and to reduce their deaths because the overhead power lines can pose a danger to them. They will also set up feeding stations for these carrion eaters which will go through constant maintenance, and for this the farmers in the area will be closely involved as well.

It is with all the efforts and steps in place that they will be able to boost the southeastern European population. In the years that have passed, a foundation for the permanent return of the carrion eaters, also known as black vultures, will be there to make sure of its continued success.

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People often turn to healthy foods as a way to promote personal health. Found in the list of to-eat would be the usual fruits and vegetables. But when it comes to treating superbugs that come from hospitals and addressing crop diseases, a simple potato might be the perfect cure.

People traditionally view potatoes as something that doesn’t bring too many nutrients. Its main role is to make meals more interesting. These are often made into mashed potatoes or French fries. What they don’t realize is the myriad of benefits that come with this botanical vegetable.

The potato may be a humble crop, but what people don’t realize is that it’s packed with a natural antibiotic that has the ability to destroy harmful bacteria. Whe formed into an antibiotic, this could be the very key to beating hospital superbugs in the near future. The findings were stated in a research made by a multinational team from Europe.

As for the compound itself, it is called solanimycin. This has the ability to fight a host of fungi that create destruction in crops. The havoc it wreaks could finally be stopped and it is their hope that they can look further into their findings. In the recent experiments made, the compound was able to kill Candida albicans, which can bring about possibly-dangerous and even deadly infections, such as thrush for women.

The traditional therapeutic antibiotic compounds found in the market now often come from soil microbes. As for the solanimycin findings they have made, these show that plant-based microorganisms should be considered more.

The research team behind it has made such discovery and they see this as a hopeful sign that plant pathogens could finally be turned into compounds that may be utilized for a variety of ways such as a weapon to fight plant fungi in crops that have come to be since these have become resistant to the usual treatments. Moreover, the compound could also be used as a fight to the growing problem of antimicrobial resistance found in people.

“We have to open to the exploration of everything that’s out there to find new antibiotics,” said Microbiologist Rita Monson, Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge. She co-led the study as well.

This week in mBio, the team reported the discovery of the compound that they first isolated from a pathogenic bacterium that is able to infect potatoes. This discovery made also seemed to be produced by a wide spectrum of related plant pathogenic bacteria.

The pathogenic potato bacterium is called Dickeya solani and this can produce solanimycin, a compound that they first identified more than 15 years ago. This means that the team of researchers at Cambridge have been looking into its potential as an antibiotic for around 10 years now.

“These strains emerged rapidly, and now they are widely distributed,” said the paper’s co-author, molecular microbiologist Miguel Matilla, Ph.D. He is from the Spanish Research Council’s Estación Experimental del Zaidín, in Granada.

It must be noted that solanimycin isn’t the first antibiotic that they discovered from the microbe. In work from previous years, researchers found that D. solani is able to produce an antibiotic called oocydin A. The said antibiotic acts extremely active when it comes to fighting several fungal plant pathogens.

Those previous discoveries as well as the analysis of the genome of the bacterium pointed to the fact that it might synthesize to more antibiotics that have antifungal potential. That hint that they thought of came to be correct. Matilla, Monson, molecular microbiologist George Salmond, saw that when they silenced the genes that were responsible for the production of oocydin A, the bacterium still showed antifungal activity.

That observation made brought them to identify solanimycin and the identification of the gene clusters that were in charge of the proteins that create the important compound. The bacterium makes use of the compound meagerly. It just acts enough to produce some as a response to cell density. An acidic pH environment, like what is found inside a potato also has the ability to activate the solanimycin gene cluster. Monson explained it further and said that it almost looks like a clever protective mechanism.

“It’s an antifungal that we believe will work by killing fungal competitors, and the bacteria benefit so much from this,” said Monson. “But you don’t turn it on unless you’re in a potato.”

“Our future steps are focused on trying to use this antibiotic antifungal for plant protection,” Matilla added.

Monson said the researchers have also started their collaboration with chemists because they want to know more about the molecular structure of solanimycin and get a deeper understanding on how it works.

She and Matilla have hopes for the future especially when it comes to further testing of the compound with the use of plant and animal models. They will also shift their immediate focus on trying to use this antibiotic antifungal to be able to protect the plants and crops worldwide.

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The world has opened up with the help of all forms of transportation. People have mainly used cars to get them from one place to the next. For those who don’t own one, taxis are the way to go. However, these forms of land transportation do have their limitations – traffic.

With the fast-changing world, life needs to find a way to catch up. Time has been wasted simply because of the traffic on the road. Well, this issue may be resolved soon because there is a company that has made a taxi that can actually fly and avoid the clogged streets altogether.

A company caked XPeng created this wonderful piece of innovation. They are the leading tech company that focuses on designing, developing, manufacturing, and marketing smart mobility solutions. They look into diversifying mobility and included on their list are electric vehicles (EVs), electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, and robotics. They are also designing the future of mobility so that their clients’ driving experience are enhanced.

So, when their flying taxi made its maiden voyage, there were 150 people present and their smartphones were out to record this event. They finally had the chance to watch an electric flying car perform a successful test as it landed on Dubai’s skydiving range. This was what the future held and if everything falls into place, then this may be available in cities all over.

Part of the audience was a group of flying taxi companies from all over the world. Because of the success of the event, it seemed as if many of these big names will play a big part in populating the skies with different versions of “eVTOL” vehicles, or “electric vertical take-off and landing.”

So, how does XPeng Motors’ X2 flying taxi look like? It is a teardrop-shaped two-seater EVTOL that can cruise as high as 1,000 meters in elevation and at a speed of 81 miles per hour. At this point, the built-in battery can store electricity for a 35 minute flight. This may suffice for a CEO’s quick carbon-free trip just right across town.

The test done was unmanned and it was done by automated control. “XPeng’s X2’s public display in Dubai represents a significant milestone for XPeng AeroHT and the international achievement of flying cars,” said Brian Gu. He is Vice Chairman and President of XPeng.

“Dubai is a world-renowned ‘City of Innovation,’ which is the reason we decided to hold the X2 first public flight event here. Today’s flight is a major step in XPeng exploration of future mobility,” he added.

This first ever public flight came with the enthusiastic and full support of the Dubai International Chamber of Commerce. They have been deeply involved in the process since the launch of the project by providing consultation to XPENG AEROHT about the strategies. Acting President and CEO Hassan Al Hashemi attended the event and said in his speech, “The first global public flight of the X2 flying car will change the game of future mobility. The flying car is the epitome of ambition, innovation and future-oriented vision that has always inspired Dubai and its leadership. Today, we witnessed a historic moment that will define the next 50 years.”

Bloomberg reported on the test and said that XPeng is in competition with other companies such as TCab Tech, and AutoFlight. They all want to be Asia’s urban air mobility’s leader, which is a market that is expected to reach $1 trillion in the next 20 years.

“The flying car is the epitome of ambition, innovation and future-oriented vision that has always inspired Dubai,” said Hassan Al Hashemi. He is the President and CEO of Dubai Chamber of Commerce.

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A supermarket in Cairo is moving towards a whole new level of freshness and sustainability when it comes to fresh produce. Rather than package their lettuce in the usual plastic, even if it was biodegradable packaging, this particular company is opting to put a hydroponic refrigerator directly inside the supermarket to not only grow lettuce in the store, but to make sure that no one complains about freshness or the distance it takes for the produce to travel from its growing place to the store.

A hydroponic system is actually a way that allows certain plants to grow inside humid tubes without the need for soil, but rather supplementing via liquid fertilizer and nutrients. This type of system also uses 90% less water than that of soil gardening, and it’s highly effective for fast growing greens.

The company in question is Schaduf, a company that prides itself in being one of the top pioneers for sustainability in the Middle East since 2011. They explain on their website, “We specialize in diverse sections of services to make sure that we deliver the goal of sustainable Urban cities, such as: Landscape Design, Urban Farming, Green Walls, Green Roofs.”

They hope to further expand their technology to other stores as well, in order to reduce the carbon footprint of the usual travel that’s linked to vegetables and fresh fruit.

Cairo isn’t the only city that’s working to become more sustainable. In fact, hydroponic farms are becoming incredibly popular in built-up areas, as well as developing indoor vertical farms found in warehouses, or more commonly as rooftop gardens in other big cities like Montreal, New York, and London.

See more about this project on the Twitter post below:

Egyptian company Schaduf is growing vegetables inside a hydroponic fridge, allowing customers to buy fresh produce straight from the supermarket in Cairo pic.twitter.com/QRRfgDJUlP

— Reuters (@Reuters) October 12, 2022

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A little orange tabby cat was rescued by a woman named Laura Baker in February of 2021, after she saw that the poor creature had its neck stuck inside something. On closer inspection, it was a plastic ring from some packaging that must have been discarded.

Unfortunately, the kitten must have had the ring stuck for so long that as the kitty grew, the ring began to dig into its neck, causing it major harm. Baker actually runs a rescue agency for young animals called Itty Bitty Kitty City, and she decided to post about the event on Facebook in order to raise funds for the cat’s treatment and recovery.

When Baker realized that the ring was from a Munchkin brand “Any Angle Cup,” she decided to write to the company to let them know what had happened to the cat. But what she didn’t exactly expect was that Munchkin wasn’t just respond to the story, but they even offered to give a generous amount of money to help pay for the young cat’s medical care. Moreover, they even gave $2,500 to the rescue organization for their other rescue efforts.

But Munchkin wasn’t satisfied with just helping out with their cash donation. They decided that they needed to do something more to stop events like this from happening again. The photo of the injured cat was so effective that it moved the Munchkin corporation to implement a corporate revolution that promises to cut plastic use by 645,630 pounds every year.

Chief Brand Officer and Creative Director at Munchkin, Diana Barnes, said, “It was soul crushing to read Laura’s [the rescuer] note and look at the photos of that sweet kitten, both personally because I’m a passionate advocate for animals and a pet parent myself of two cats, and professionally.”

She added, “We’ve all seen marine life and animals that are entangled in plastic, but no executive ever wants to imagine their brand is the source of this suffering. Laura asked us for nothing, she simply wanted awareness, she was asking us to do better.”

You’d think the story would end there, but in fact, it gets so much better.

According to Ms. Barnes, the cups of Munchkin’s product line are truly the “holy grail” of the company. In fact, they had just finished reconfiguration and branding all of the 500 varieties of packaging they needed for their products. However, the photo of little Munchkin the cat, which they lovingly called the tabby, with their packaging that was hurting him was too difficult to bear, so Barnes and her team decided to redo what they had just completed.

The packaging’s new design is not only free of plastic, but it even uses e-flute corrugated linerboard that’s made from 60-70% recycled materials. This means that if another animal finds itself in a similar situation as little Munchkin did, the packaging would very easily break apart so the animal would be safe and not get stuck.

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In all of North America, the state of Colorado happens to be blessed with incredible public lands, and what’s even more amazing is that it’s still growing.

Just recently, a non-profit bought a nearby ranch, which was then turned over to the National Park Service (NPS) in order to expand the Great Sand Dunes National Park by at least 9,350 acres, which is approximately 3,783 hectares.

The Medano-Zapata Ranch encompasses very rich and biodiverse wetlands, which means that its transfer back to public lands will help bring the park back to its former glory.

Great Sand Dunes National Park Superintendent, Pamela Rice, said in a statement, “The lands being transferred to the Park contain important springs and wetlands that support a rich diversity of life. This acquisition marks an important step toward completing the plan for Great Sand Dunes National Park that was established in 2004.”

It was The Nature Conservancy (TNC), which happens to be one of the biggest environmental non-profits on the planet, that had actually acquired the land through a former agreement with the ranch all the way back in 1999. This year, over 20 years later, they conservatory was compensated for their member-supported purchase using money from the federal government’s Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWC). Notably, this fund also take royalties from gas and oil drilling in order to pay for these conservation projects.

The LWC, which came about over 50 years ago, has funded as much as $4 billion worth of conservation projects throughout the country, and in 2019, it was permanently reauthorized by Congress.

As for the Medano-Zapanta Ranch, approximately 12,498 acres of land is within the Great Sand Dunes National Park boundaries. As a result, TNC plans to transfer the remaining 3,192 acres to  the NPS in the near future as it’s currently on a 7-year lease form the Department of Interior. This will also include a herd of bison, which has been grazing on the land for years.

It was in 1932 that the Great Sand Dunes National Park was proclaimed as a national monument. Then in 2000, it was redesignated as a national park and preserve  to protect the tallest dunes in North America for current and future generations.

These dunes are an incredible centerpiece in a widely diverse landscape of wetlands, grasslands, alpine lakes, forests and tundra. Just last year, over 603,000 tourists visited to experience the extraordinary dunes and dazzling starry skies, as well as learn about the remarkable cultural history as well.

Last 2021, park visitors spent around $41.3 million in nearby regions and areas while visiting the dunes, which helped to support over 530 jobs. Hopefully, this number will be exceeded at the end of the year.

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In a bid to clean up the oceans, small-time fishermen in Indonesia are being paid as partial cleanup crews for the ever-growing issue of pollution in the seas. The archipelago is attempting to tidy their waters, while raising awareness among stakeholders as well.

On October 4, the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries in Indonesia announced that they put aside around 1 billion rupiah – which is approximately $70,000 – which they will use to pay fisherman for any plastic trash they retrieve from the oceans.

Indonesia isn’t the only country attempting to lessen the immense trash piling up in their nearby waters. Many other countries across the globe have been setting their own climate goals in the hopes to become more respectful of the environment. When it comes to ocean waste, one of the biggest contributors is plastic trash and Indonesia wants to reverse their reputation as one of the biggest causes of that exact problem. Their plan is to spend $1 billion within the next three years to decrease the amount of plastic that enters the oceans from the country’s shores by at least 70%.

For Indonesian fishermen that work off the main islands with the ability to collect 4 kilograms (2.2 pounds) of trash per day, the government will give them around $10 for their trash collection. Notably, this amount is a bit more than what they would earn if they spent their whole day catching fish to sell at the usual market prices.

Fisheries minister, Sakti Wahyu Trenggono, said in the press conference held in Jakarta, “This activity is very simple. But at least this will raise awareness among the stakeholders at sea and the people around the world.”

Sakti added, “The most important thing is prevention. If we can properly conduct prevention, then there shouldn’t be any waste in the sea. Because once the trash gets to the sea, then it’s already damaged.”

Economically-speaking, Indonesia’s location is in one of the quickest-developing regions on the planet. This is a huge reason why the use of plastic waste has widely outpaced any form of recycling infrastructure, more so on the smaller islands of the country.

The UK’s Pew Trust explains that ‘95% of all fishing activities are small-scale.’ As a result, these small fisheries cannot cover the costs from things like ocean pollution or other additional taxes the way that large-scale fisheries can. This is why such a bottom-up approach as what they are taking to clean up the oceans is highly suitable to Indonesia.

Moreover, Indonesia happens to be an island surrounded by incredible underwater wildlife that divers and snorkelers love to visit, and the last thing they want to deal with is tons of plastic and waste. This plan is one step further at keeping the country beautiful and tourist-worthy for years to come.

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A new rare baby red panda was born at the Paradise Wildlife Park in Hertfordshire, England, sparking hope for the critically endangered species. This adorable cub made its debut over the summer, and recently, it just passed its very first health check with perfect scores.

Born to a mommy named Tilly, and the father, Nam Pang, the zoo has yet to find out whether the cub is a boy or a girl, and they wanted to wait until they were certain of its gender before giving the adorable new baby its permanent name.

Although they attempted to check its sex during this last health check, experts had a difficult time because this little ball of fluff was incredibly fidgety, and figuring out whether it is male or female during the checkup was “impossible,” the vet claimed. Rather than leave the adorable red panda nameless, the team at the zoo decided to name it Little Red, which was perfect considered its overall ginger appearance.

Despite the difficulty in attempting to figure out its gender, considering this was the little cub’s very first health checkup, everything else went swimmingly.

Although everything is well with Little Red after his birth in July, sadly, his father passed away just one month before the red panda’s birth. The zoo had been trying to successfully breed the mama and papa bears for around four years, all in line with the European Ex Situ Breeding Program. This initiative works to breed endangered animal species in captivity in its attempts to guarantee the continuation of those particular species for future generations.

The program didn’t know if they were successful until the closed-circuit cameras managed to capture the surprise birth of this little creature.

Since Little Red’s birth, the zoo has been calling it ‘a miracle,’ and the operations coordinator of Paradise Wildlife Park, Aaron Whitnall, explained, “This cub has become a symbol of hope, after the tragic passing of Nam Pang.”

According to animal experts, Little Red’s first six months are truly the most critical, which is why the cub is being monitored despite the fact that the little critter appears to be very strong and active.

Over the past two decades, the population of red pandas has decreased immensely. In fact, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) stated that currently, there are less than 10,000 red pandas left in the wild. This is mostly due to their illegal capture, as well as the huge reduction in their natural habitats.

The hope is that through captivity breeding, it will give a chance for future generations to still have red pandas in the world.

Take a look at Little Red’s health checkup in the video below:

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With the rising prices of electricity, countries are scrambling to get a hold of renewable resources of energy, and the most popular of which is solar. So, where can you best get solar energy? The Sahara may be the first you look at, and rightfully so.

The sun beats down on the Sahara Desert for most of the year, and countries are starting to recognize its potential. Imagine harnessing the power of the sun to provide electricity for millions of homes. That would already address the problem on fluctuating electricity costs.

Experts from several European countries are maximizing of the huge output of solar energy in places that surround the gigantic Sahara Desert. In fact, a massive undersea power cable is already being built and it’s on its way from Egypt to Europe, hopefully supplying a total of 7 million homes in the future.

The GREGY connection is set to bring a total of 3,000 megawatts of renewable energy, and this will run from northern Egypt to Attica, Greece. “Approximately one third (of the electricity that will come from Egypt) will be consumed in Greece, and mainly in Greek industries, another third will be exported to neighboring European countries and one third will be used in Greece, for the production of green hydrogen. The majority of this hydrogen will also be exported to neighboring European countries,” said Ioannis Karydas, CEO of Renewables, Copelouzos Group.

This innovative piece of technology will hopefully be fully operational in about 8 years. As said earlier, around one-third of the cable’s supply will power Greece’s heavier industry, another third will then be exported with the help of the shared grids so that other European countries such as Bulgaria and Italy will benefit from it.

As for the final third, this will be allotted to producing what they call green hydrogen. “By bringing 3 gigawatts of clean energy to Europe, via Greece, we are helping Europe wean itself off Russia’s fossil fuels and natural gas. Also, the green energy we will transport will be much cheaper than today’s energy prices. You understand that this will help both Greek and European consumers,” added Karydas.

Right now, there is hardcore effort from experts to decarbonize, and they are hopeful because this has been done once before via the XLinks Moroccan-UK Power Project. The said project makes use of a similar undersea cable that runs from Morocco all the way to Devon, UK. This means that the wires run a total of 2,300 miles and brings in 10 gigawatts of power.

A spokesman for Xlinks had shared, “This ‘first of a kind’ project will generate 10.5GW of zero carbon electricity from the sun and wind to deliver 3.6GW of reliable energy for an average of 20+ hours a day.”

“Alongside the consistent output from its solar panels and wind turbines, an onsite 20GWh/5GW battery facility provides sufficient storage to reliably deliver each and every day, a dedicated, near-constant source of flexible and predictable clean energy for Britain, designed to complement the renewable energy already generated across the UK,” the spokesman added.

Egypt’s solar fields have benefited from connections with the other North African countries like Libya and Sudan. They also have plans of becoming the most prominent and the largest exporters of renewable energy to all of southeast Europe.

Indeed, this is news that the whole world can celebrate. This will give them hope that they too will become recipients of renewable energy, one that can cut their costs to a significant and affordable amount.

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Everyone had become fully dependent on fossil fuels at one point in time. This is the main driver behind global warming, and people are starting to feel its effects. The weather changes that happened wreaked havoc everywhere, and this has caught so many off-guard.

Because fossil fuels have become somewhat dangerous, some have shifted to renewable energy. And why not? Mother Nature has so much to offer. All people have to do is figure out how to harness it. The best part of it all is that this is free, safe, and doable.

They made an accounting on this and found impressive results. Solar, wind, and hydroelectric power supply seen to have increased. So much so that it met a 100 percent of new power installations all over the world, particularly  during the first half of this year. This numbers showed that this was able to stave off a 4 percent increase in fossil-fuel generation and avoided $40 billion in fuel costs and 230 million tons of CO2 in emissions. This is already an impressive feat that it could only be better.

The popularity rise of wind and solar energies prevented a 4 percent increase in fossil fuel electricity use all over the world. In China, for instance, the rise of wind and solar allowed the fossil fuel power use to decline by 3 percent. Without this rise, fossil fuels would have increased by a percent. In India, on the other hand, use of fossil fuel power increased by 9 percent, but this would have been 12 percent if some of them didn’t resort to wind and solar power. As for the United States, the use of renewable energy allowed to slow the rise of fossil fuel power from 7 percent to just a mere 1 percent. And in the EU, fossil fuel power went up by 6 percent, but then again, the world would have seen a 16 percent rise if wind and solar didn’t increase.

While fossil-fuel generation went down during the first half of the year, coal and gas generation went up in the months of July and August. This has led experts to believe that there is a possibility that the power sector emissions in 2022 may also go up if this were to follow the all-time high figures they’ve seen from the previous year.

All the details were compiled in a report by a London energy think tank known as Ember. In fact, across the 75 countries representing 90 percent of global electricity demand, the report saw how the renewable sources such as wind, solar, and hydro went up by 416 terawatt hours (TWh). This has slightly exceeded the rise of electricity demand at around 389 TWh.

Basically, the report explained how that at any time, utility companies in 75 countries demanded more electricity generation. Hence, these companies have chosen to install a renewable source of energy. While there was a rise, it must be noted that this didn’t make the existing fossil fuel sources unusable. However, as GNN reported previously, the rise in renewable energy that comes from richer nations has enabled some of them, in particular, countries such as Germany and Australia. This happened because the places needed to meet 100 percent of the electricity demand without having to resort to burning a cubic meter of gas.

Wiatros-Motyka, senior analyst at Ember, said, “We can’t be sure if we’ve reached peak coal and gas in the power sector. Global power sector emissions are still pushing all-time highs when they need to be falling very quickly. And the same fossil fuels pushing us into a climate crisis are also causing the global energy crisis. We have a solution: Wind and solar are homegrown and cheap, and are already cutting both bills and emissions fast.”

The numbers have come to be because electricity demand will differ throughout the day. Of course, if provided that this doesn’t go beyond a certain limit, the input coming from renewables to the grid can and will suffice the demand.

Essentially, the demand for fossil fuel has maintained its figures and have basically remained unchanged between the first six months of 2022 and the first six months of 2021. There’s also a possibility that this will likely increase as countries welcome in the winter season at a time that there is energy scarcity in Europe.

“The growth in wind and solar prevented a 4% rise in fossil fuel electricity generation worldwide,” the report said in its executive summary. “In China, the growth in wind and solar enabled fossil fuel power to fall by 3 percent.”

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Australia is most known for its beautiful beaches and pristine land. Varieties of species reside there, untouched and protected from the dangers of human intervention. However, with growth and technology also comes the expansion of commercial areas.

The whole world has been cutting down trees to give way to new buildings and establishments. This means that many animals have been uprooted and have lost homes along the way. Fortunately, Australia has found a way to save these creatures, and we hope that the rest of the world follow suit.

Australia has joined the United States and several other countries as they work hard to preserve the environment and save their animals. The country’s officials have made a commitment to preserve a total of 30 percent of the continent’s landmass and make sure it stays in a natural state for conservation  purposes.

This wonderful news was announced just recently and it came from Environment Minster Tanya Plibersek. She said that this was part of a program called the Threatened Species Action Plan: Towards Zero Extinctions.

They are able to execute this by prioritizing 110 species and 20 places. With it, the plan will drive action in areas that need it the most. More importantly, this will provide knock-on benefits to other threatened plants and animals who share the same habitats.

The said plan is part of the country’s counterpart to the “30×30” initiative that has become popular with other countries. This came out of the COP26 commitments to preserve at least 30 percent of lands and waters by the year 2030.

What gives this so much potential is the fact that Australia is one of the most biologically diverse countries in the planet. In fact, many of their animals, particularly the mammals, are only found in this continent.

“The Threatened Species Action Plan strengthens our commitment to stopping the extinction of Australia’s plants and animals. These are the strongest targets we’ve ever seen,” Plibersek shared. 

“The Threatened Species Action Plan strengthens our commitment to stopping the extinction of Australia’s plants and animals,” said Plibersek. “Based on input from researchers and experts from the community, this plan identifies 20 priority places and 110 priority species and will guide recovery actions that will benefit a broad range of threatened species and their habitats.”

“Our native wildlife continues to be threatened by climate change, by natural disasters, by feral predators, and by human activity. The Black Summer bushfires in particular have seen devastating results for many species. We are determined to give wildlife a better chance. Listing species as threatened under national environment law is a critical step in protecting the species and habitats in need of urgent help. Our current approach has not been working. If we keep doing what we’ve been doing, we’ll keep getting the same results. Australia is the mammal extinction capital of the world. The need for action has never been greater,” she also added.

The plan was announced with the other 20 listings of species and 3 of ecosystems on their threatened list, and AUD$224 million (around USD$146 million) in total funding to protect them.

A whopping 50 million hectares are expected to be given as part of the plan. The said plan also makes a 5-year review mandatory to make it even more effective. The goal is to save the species that they have and to make sure that their efforts are sustained in the future.

Also just recently, Australian conservationists seen impressive results with certain goals that they made, particularly with the protection or restoration of island ecosystems such as Macquarie Island. This was home to almost 300,000 rabbits that were eradicated. They wanted to restore its natural ecosystem. Another example would be Lord Howe Island which had a similar story. This time, the problem they had was with the rats that lived there. Both areas have now become a part of the UNESCO Natural Heritage Sites.

As for the extreme northern area of Queensland, environmentally sensitive areas are continuously returned to indigenous hands. These lands will be  managed as national parks. At this point in time, these kinds of transfers have totaled to almost 4.7 million hectares.

A lot can be said about the efforts Australia has made to protect its beautiful land, and the world can expect great success because of their hard work and their commitment to making their country a natural and safe habitat for their creatures.

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No one is ever ready for a disaster. Hurricanes ravage communities every single year, and every time this happens, people have to deal with the devastation it leaves behind. And when you see the path it has taken, you’ll be shocked and appalled at how it can destroy homes and buildings.

Some people do their best to fortify their homes, but like most natural disasters, no one is really prepared. However, one community in Florida virtually came out unscathed from the strong winds and continuous rains. That’s because their homes were built to be sturdy against Mother Nature’s wrath.

Hurricane Ian has left an indelible mark on Southwest Florida. It has been nothing short of cataclysmic.  A total of 2 million Floridians lost power in their homes and they were all left to scramble for their lives in the dark. However, one community survived and remained intact because their homes were designed to be resilient.

The community is named Babcock Ranch and it is located around 20 miles from Fort Myers. This is the very center of the devastation. That’s because the community is equipped with the right tools in their arsenal: solar power, native flora, and built-to-code construction. This means that while their pool coverings didn’t make it after the winds blew, and some houses had broken fence posts had a missing shingle or two, they had what they needed the most – electricity.

“When storms take aim at southwest Florida and evacuation orders are issued, residents of Babcock Ranch are at a distinct advantage,” a representative for the community, Lisa Hall, said when she spoke to CBS News. “Storm safety and resiliency has been factored into every element of design and engineering of the town.”

Around 4,600 residents reside in Babcock Ranch. The place has been billed as a storm-resilient and is 100% solar-powered. “They were told that Babcock Ranch was built to stand up to storms—but you never really know for sure until you see how everything performs when a storm comes,” Lisa Hall added to CBS news. “Ian put it to an extreme test.”

Babcock Ranch was built 25-feet higher on average when compared to their surrounding communities. This means that the place goes above the reach of storm waters. Aside from that, the buildings were specifically made to withstand Category 4 hurricane winds of 145 mph. When this was put to actual test, it passed with flying colors. Everyone was impressed.

The ranch was built in 2018. It was designed to be resilient to the climate. In fact, the town has a wastewater plant to serve them and a water system that is able to penetrate deep into an underground aquifer. Because of its innovative design, their drinking water remained clean from contamination and never shut off from access, which meant that they had all that they needed.

A total of 700,000 solar panels that came from Florida Power & Light was also set in place to provide each of their residents with electricity. If you look at the map, you’ll see that the ranch covers a large area of 900 acres. Despite its massive size, the community only sustained very little damage. They were left essentially unscathed and only needed minor repairs as the hurricane left the area. In fact, they retained both power and internet connections.

As for the electricity, their solar panels were able to constantly provide them with power. They even had a storm shelter, but they never expected to use it because the diesel generator was delivered late to them. The shelter was only opened at the 11^th hour and even then, they were the only community in the area that always had electricity.

Babcock Ranch has been impressive. In fact, they have caught the attention of people all over. In fact, they wouldn’t be surprised to see more growth. The town expects to see its population expand to around 50,000, with 6 million square feet allotted for commercial space.

The residents have been extremely grateful for their place. They want to reach out to those who have lost so much of their belongings and have, in fact, organized several donation drives to help out those who were not as lucky as they were.

“I think the feeling for most people is surreal – and amazing blessed,” Hall also said. “They were told that Babcock Ranch was built to stand up to storms – but you never really know for sure until you see how everything performs when a storm comes. Ian put it to an extreme test.”

“It [is] a constant outpouring of support from Babcock Ranch residents who know how incredibly fortunate they are to have homes and community still intact,” Hall explained.

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It’s been at least seven decades since Cheetahs were seen sprinting across the giant plains of India, but thankfully, they’re back. Now, the Indian government doesn’t want to take any chance with their safety, which is why they’ve hired a group of unexpected and extraordinary specialists to help them out.

This remarkable group happens to be made of six German shepherds that are set to patrol the grounds where the cheetahs now live for any signs of possible poachers. And the land they are set to protect covers an 80,000-acre property known as the Kuno National Park.

According to the Asian News International, they reported that the dogs are currently undergoing a 7-month training program with none other than the Tibetan Border Police Force’s National Training Center for Dogs. Here, they will learn to perfect and hone their tracking skills, as well as their obedience, amongst other forms of expertise.

The cheetahs needing protection, are comprised of five male and three female wild cats, were released on September 17 after being flown in from  a game reserve found north of Windhoek, Namibia, making it the first-of-its-kind international translocation of cheetahs. They were formerly declared extinct in India back in 1952 precisely due to being over hunted. Now, the animals’ greatest stronghold happens to be Namibia due to its ‘open flat ground, sparse populations, and rich game numbers.’

The Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, shared in a video address, “Today the cheetah has returned to the soil of India. The nature loving consciousness of India has also awakened with full force. We must not allow our efforts to fail.”

The South China Morning Post shares that Ilu, the German shepherd, alongside her teammates, will be trained to sniff out such things as elephant tusks, tiger bones, and other highly trafficked wildlife parts to help them do their job in protecting the cheetahs.

Inspector general of basic training at the Tibetan facility, Ishwar Singh Duhan, told ASI, “Dogs trained at the ITBP dog training center have a high rate of wildlife crime detection. There are scores of success stories where dogs have helped in the arrest of poachers and recoveries of wildlife species and their remains.”

Although there are still 7,000 cheetahs in existence across the African plains, another major sub-species called the Asiatic cheetah is sadly hanging on by a thread. They once roamed from Arabia, through the Fertile Crescent and Zagros Mountains, making their way to India and Pakistan.

It is many people’s hope that they will manage to recover in India, and eventually create a diverse and growing population in order to protect its species from such localized catastrophe issues such as drought, disease, reduced genetic diversity, and even civil war in order for them to be protected for the future of this majestic animal.

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Normally, when penguins come to mind, people often think about the ice cold water and mountains of snow found in Antarctica, where they usually live. But actually, just 7 species of the 17 known living penguin species actually live in the icy land of Antarctica. There is a small-sized and water-loving Galapagos penguin that lives in the Galapagos Islands, and it survives near the equator where they love to swim and play in the warmer water.

Just recently, some people were diving in the waters off Fernandina where these penguins normally find tons of food due to the meeting of strong ocean currents in the cold Humboldt waters. These currents tend to bring in fresh food for these flightless birds that includes mullet, anchovies and sardines, some of their favorite creatures to munch on.

If you’ve ever seen a penguin swim in water, they are incredibly agile and swift swimmers, reaching speeds of 20 miles per hour (35 kilometers per hour) by using their very capable flippers.

While the human divers were snorkeling in the area, they managed to take a video of both penguins and playful sea lions swimming throughout the gorgeous blue water near the rocky shores of the Galapagos Island, getting up close and personal with the fun-loving creatures.

While the sea lions swam in their unique manner of swirling and rolling about, and the penguins dashed around, the humans managed to capture their movements, following the adorable animals as they moved back and forth around them. Thankfully they were extremely friendly and more than ready to have fun with the humans taking their video.

In fact, one particular sea lion even tried to catch a penguin in what looked to be a game of catch and release, but the penguin didn’t enjoy their playing, it would seem. This is probably because sea lions tend to prey on penguins whenever they get a chance. Regardless, they are also quite friendly and curious, often approaching humans at times.

These swimmers can chalk up this incredible encounter as a once in a lifetime experience that they won’t soon forget. And if anything, this video will surely bring even more tourists to the area in the hopes that they will have their own penguin and sea lion experience as well.

See more in the video below:

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In case you didn’t know about it, there’s a world’s largest life jacket loaner program, and it all began back in 2008 as a single like jacket loaner booth meant for boaters who needed to borrow any size preserver before they entered the water.

Incredibly, that single number has crossed an incredibly huge milestone recently, by setting up the 1,000^thlocation for the program that provides free life jackets for borrowing on a beach in Clearwater, Florida.

The program, which is called the ‘Life Jacket Loaner’ program, now operates in loaner stations all across the 50 states, as well as Washington D.C., the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa, all because of one man who happens to be a Long Island, New York captain.

Captain Joe Frohnhoefer isn’t a stranger to water mishaps, and he’s seen his fair share of boating accidents and unfortunately, tragedies, that could have sadly been prevented. This is what pushed him to start the Sea Tow Foundation back in 2007 to not only provide proper education in safety in the water, but to provide people with the resources to help eliminate these unfortunate accidents.

In fact, on their website, their mission and promise reads “To provide access to education, tools, and resources to eliminate preventable boating accidents and deaths.”

One year later, he began the Life Jacket Loaner program in the hopes to prevent people drowning in the water by providing boaters free life jackets of any size which they can borrow and return at the end of their water journey.

Unfortunately, Capt. Frohnhoefer passed away in 2015, but thankfully, his legacy not only lives on through the efforts of his foundation, but his very own daughter Kristen is the president of the foundation’s board.

According to the group’s Executive Director, Gail Kulp, “Since 2008, we’ve distributed over 90,000 life jackets. We believe that financial struggles or lack of access to resources should never be an obstacle to safety.”

She also said, “It’s truly game-changing when someone puts on a life jacket,” according to Capt. Kahle, the Commander of US Coast Guard in St. Petersburg. “The statistics don’t lie—life jackets save lives.”

Meanwhile, Brian Rehwinkel of the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission, said, “This means an awful lot from an outreach and education standpoint. If you don’t have a life jacket, you can’t wear one. With this program there’s no reason for someone to go out on the water without one.”

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In recent news, United Airlines recently announced that they will invest $15 million in a purchase agreement to buy 200 four-seater electric flying taxis. This is in the hopes to move towards a more revolutionized way of commuting between cities, world-wide.

These “taxis,” which are being called eVTOLs – electric vertical take-off and landing vehicle –

have been in development for quite some time. And United believes that they will have incredible potential to truly work when it comes to the transportation market.

United has already invested money in these eVTOL projects in the past, and has signed a contract with Eve Air Mobility for delivery of the first unites by as early as 2026. According to the contract, they may even order an additional 200 units if ever.

The companies also intend to work on additional future projects, under the terms of their agreement, to include more studies on the development, use, and application of the Eve aircraft and the urban air mobility (UAM) ecosystem.

Since the skies set above many major cities have already been set to become the next “traffic lanes” of traffic, many aviation authorities already require ideas on ways to manage the possible transportation environment in a world that hopes to see 500 to 1,000 flying taxes in use over every metropolis, while making various trips in a single day.

Working side-by-side with UK Air Mobility, EVE is also working on developing a contingency plan to debut alongside their eVTOLs.

President of United Airlines Ventures, Michael Leskinen, said, “United has made early investments in several cutting-edge technologies at all levels of the supply chain.”

“Today, United is making history again, by becoming the first major airline to publicly invest in two eVTOL companies. Our agreement with Eve highlights our confidence in the urban air mobility market and serves as another important benchmark toward our goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050 without using traditional offsets,” he added.

United happens to be the first major U.S. airline to create a corporate venture fund, namely United Airlines Ventures (UAV). It was designed precisely to support the company’s ‘100% green commitment to reach net zero emissions by 2050 without the use of traditional offsets.’

Through UAV, United has also managed to lead the industry in investments via eVTOL and electric aircrafts, hydrogen fuel cell engines, as well as sustainable aviation fuel. And if this plan of flying taxis truly takes off, it will certainly revolutionize the future of commuting all throughout the world.

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