Good Morning! 🌞

I recently came across this fascinating human behavior study:

The Gratitude Visit (Martin Seligman, 2005): In this study, participants were asked to write and then deliver a letter of gratitude in person to someone who had never been properly thanked for their kindness. Follow-ups showed that participants who performed the gratitude visit reported significantly lower symptoms of depression and higher levels of happiness for up to a month afterward.

I took this study as an inspiration to reach out and express gratitude to a couple, who hosted me for my work and travel experience when I was younger. Even though I was MUCH younger than them, they always treated me as an equal and as an adult, which made me mature a lot!

Note: The Sora AI article is in our Tech Tuesday segment below the main articles.

Innovation

First Child Cured of Brain Stem Glioma

Medical progress in recent decades has boosted the survival rate of children with cancer to 85%, but brain stem glioma remains a severe outlier. Dr. Jacques Grill, a French doctor, initially predicted a grim outcome for 6-year-old Lucas diagnosed with this rare and deadly tumor. However, an experimental treatment, randomly assigned to Lucas, led to the complete disappearance of the tumor, a unique case globally.

Officially known as diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), this rare cancer affects around 300 children annually in the United States and 100 in France. The standard two-year survival rate is only 10%, with radiotherapy as the primary treatment option.

Lucas participated in the Biomede trial in France, where he was randomly assigned the drug everolimus. Remarkably, he took the medication for over 5 years, resulting in the complete disappearance of his tumor. While seven other children from the trial survived, none experienced a complete tumor disappearance like Lucas. His case is now being considered a potential breakthrough for improving long-term outcomes in DIPG cases.

Lucas's tumors had a rare genetic mutation, making them exceptionally responsive to everolimus. Biomedical researchers are now aiming to replicate this mutation in vitro, potentially paving the way for further trials to confirm its effectiveness. Although the journey toward an approved medication may take 10 to 15 years, scientists are optimistic about the accelerated pace of technological advancements.

Culture

Recycling Crew Finds Lost Wedding Ring Against Odds

Melanie Harper lost her wedding band during a routine stop at the local recycling center in Greenville. Accidentally separated while sorting materials, the valuable ring ended up in the bins. Harper, fearing the slim chances of recovery, reached out to the city's public works department.

The dedicated litter pickers and public works employees took on the task. They emptied the container in a parking lot and meticulously sifted through the refuse. After hours of searching, Travis Golden (fittingly named 😄 ) found the white gold ring. The city's Facebook page acknowledged the efforts of Golden and other staff members:

“Finding a needle in a haystack = hard. Finding a ring in a recycling bin = nearly impossible. Unless you’re City of Greenville Public Works, where employees truly dive into their work!” the post said.

World News

Bolivian Town Protect Acres of Amazon Rainforest

In Bolivia, regular folks, not the government, played a big role in creating a huge protected forest called the Gran Manupare Integrated Management Natural Area. Covering 452,639 hectares (1.1 million acres) of Amazon rainforest in the town of Sena, a law was made to help out "peasants and indigenous communities," as per the mayor's office.

This new protected area in the Pando Department (way up in the north of Bolivia) is almost 8% of its forests, bumping up the conservation coverage to 26%. The place is home to cool wildlife like the giant river otter and the big-leaf mahogany, which are endangered. You've also got jaguars, white-lipped peccaries, and lowland tapirs, plus some at-risk species like the blue-headed macaw and the giant armadillo.

Apart from being good for nature, this forest is said to lock in 9.2 million tons of carbon. The big NGO, Conservation International, helped out, saying Pando has the most well-preserved Amazonian forest in Bolivia.

Over the last 25 years, towns like Sena in Bolivia have saved 10 million hectares (25 million acres) of the country's Amazon, kind of like putting together a puzzle. Eduardo Forno, from Conservation International-Bolivia, says protected areas are crucial to saving wildlife and dealing with climate change.

Bolivia has had a lot of deforestation, especially in Pando, where there's a ton of forest cover. Gran Manupare's story is also tied to Brazil nuts, a big deal for the locals. Conservation International worked with Sena to make sure the protected area helps people make a living while keeping the rainforests safe.

In Gran Manupare and Pando, they've linked up sustainably harvested forests to create a mix of lands owned by regular people, places for Brazil nuts, areas to protect watersheds, and spots for endangered species.

Sports

On this Day, Sports Edition

On February 27, 1874, baseball made its debut in England at Lord's Cricket Grounds, marking a significant moment in the sport's history.

The evolution of baseball from older bat-and-ball games is challenging to pinpoint. A 1344 French manuscript illustrates clerics playing a game resembling baseball, while other French games like thèque and la balle au bâton show related traits.

Long believed to be a North American development, baseball was thought to have roots in the British and Irish game of rounders.

I wonder what the British made of seeing this new sport for the first time?

Mind Stretchers

❓️ 

Jack is looking at Anne. Anne is looking at George. Jack is married, George is not, and we don’t know if Anne is married. Is a married person looking at an unmarried person?

Answer to yesterday’s Mind Stretchers:
The 3rd daughter is Eva! 

Christ Hostetler got the correct answer in 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]

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.