Good Morning! 🌞 

Here’s a fun fact: In 1932, Australia fought a war against emus, large flightless birds that were causing havoc on farmlands in Western Australia. Known as the Great Emu War, the military was called in to manage the situation, but the emus proved surprisingly elusive and resilient, leading to an unsuccessful campaign.

Innovation

Restoring Brain Cells

Scientists have discovered a way to repair brain cells affected by Timothy syndrome, a rare genetic disorder.

A study published in the journal Nature found that a drug called antisense oligonucleotide enabled human neurons to develop normally despite carrying a mutation due to Timothy syndrome. "It's the beginning of a new era for many of these diseases that we first thought were untreatable," said Dr. Huda Zoghbi, a professor at Baylor College of Medicine, to NPR.

Timothy syndrome is caused by a mutation of a single gene in a person's DNA. The new drug uses an antisense nucleotide, a small piece of synthetic genetic material, to alter the proteins made by a cell, according to NPR.
The antisense nucleotide for Timothy syndrome was designed to replace a defective protein with a healthy version, effectively counteracting the mutation responsible for the disorder. This approach could potentially be used to treat other genetic disorders, including those that cause schizophrenia, epilepsy, ADHD, and autism spectrum disorder.

Culture

Remaking the Past

Sculpting marble has always fascinated me. It seems like such an difficult process where one mistake could ruin the whole sculpture.

Being able to watch an artist full process is one of those great things about videos and the Internet.

World News

Steam Engine Restored

Trains often inspire nostalgia, but for most, it doesn't turn into a hobby. However, Iain Smith from Aviemore in the Scottish Highlands is an exception.

Smith and a small group of volunteers have spent the last 25 years restoring the Ivatt Class 2 2-6-0 engine, serial no. 46464. After years of hard work, they finally saw it run again. No. 46464, affectionately known as “Carmyllie Pilot,” was built 75 years ago. It spent most of its working life carrying passengers between Angus and Fife, a 90-minute journey. “It was very emotional to see it up and running again,” Smith admitted.

Carmyllie Pilot carried freight and passengers around Scotland for 14 years until it was withdrawn from service in 1966. Former London North Eastern Railway engineer Ian Fraser bought the locomotive after meeting one of the former drivers. It was added to a railway museum in Dundee, then sent to Aviemore’s Strathspey Railway to operate on a heritage line. A problem eventually took it out of action, and it returned to Fraser’s ownership in 1989.

After Fraser died 14 years later, the volunteer-led Carmyllie Pilot Company Ltd was formed in 2000 to fully restore the locomotive. Much of the work was done at Strathspey, alongside other heritage locomotives. Now, with a fresh coat of paint in its original livery, it relies on dozens of custom-made parts since replacements were impossible to find. “It was like a giant Meccano kit at our site at one time,” Smith told the BBC.

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Mind Stretchers

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It's the greatest persuader I've ever heard; small wonder it's known as the magical word.

Answers to yesterday’s Mind Stretchers:
What is the smallest whole number that is equal to seven times the sum of its digits?
- 21

Galen Garretson got the correct answer first!

Be the first to send us the correct answer for today’s mind stretcher for a shout-out with the answer tomorrow. Just send us the answer and your name to [email protected] or reply to the email.

If you have any uplifting stories and experience you might want to share, send those over to [email protected] for the chance to be featured.