During the recent heat dome over Europe, multiple regions of Spain were scorched by wildfires. But in the idyllic Iberian ecosystem of Doñana National Park, things were calm and lush. There hasn’t been a wildfire in the park for 9 years, in fact. And it’s down to a very slow, very sweet team of hard […] The post Meet the ‘Firefighting’ Donkeys of Spain, Chowing Down on Grass and Fire Risk from Dawn to Dusk appeared first on Good News Network.

When the BBC visited China’s frigid northeastern province of Heilongjiang (Black Dragon River) in 2008 hoping to catch a glimpse of the river’s famous giant sturgeon, the English documentarians learned that there were no more giant sturgeon—that the Black Dragon River had been chronically overfished. Yet as China’s economic advancements led to greater and greater […] The post Chinese-Russian Biologists Release Nearly 500,000 Young Sturgeon into the Amur River appeared first on Good News Network.

Sometimes the most consequential innovations are fueled by frustration. When she was in her early thirties, Ridhi Tariyal asked her gynecologist for a fertility test. Her doctor dismissed the request, saying such a test wasn’t possible. Tariyal knew otherwise. With an MBA from Harvard and a Master of Science in biomedical enterprise from MIT, she was familiar with the Anti-Müllerian Hormone, an established marker of ovarian reserve. The test existed. Still, her doctor would not order it. The experience left her frustrated enough to turn her own health into a science project. “There are thousands of women like me,” Tariyal, now 45, says. “Women are waiting longer to have children, but they still want information about their reproductive health.” Ridhi Tariyal was inspired by her own frustration to explore better ways for women to learn about their fertility. Courtesy of NextGen Jane Regular fertility tests require blood samples, so that raised an obvious question: Where could women collect blood easily and repeatedly without a clinic visit? The answer, she realized, was hiding in plain sight. Every month, billions of women discard biological material containing blood, immune cells, bacteria and fragments of tissue shed from the uterine lining. According to Taryal, over 800 genes are expressed differently in menstrual effluence and venous blood. Yet, she notes, “We throw all this valuable information into the trash.” What if menstrual blood could reveal fertility, detect disease and provide a window into women’s health, all without invasive procedures? Together with biologist Stephen Gire, she founded NextGen Jane in 2014. The company developed and patented methods for collecting and processing blood samples from tampons. Instead of throwing them away, women seal the tampons in a specially designed collection kit and mail them to the company’s laboratory. In her lab in Oakland, California, Tariyal dons a white coat over her t-shirt and jeans and demonstrates how easy the extraction is: The patented machine, smaller than an espresso machine, accomplishes the task of retrieving a viable blood sample in seconds. “What’s really cool is we’re getting a biopsy without a speculum or stirrups or any sort of scraping. We’re using the body’s natural expelling of reproductive tissue,” Tariyal emphasizes. NextGen Jane has now identified a biomarker panel for endometriosis and validated it in an independent patient cohort. Tariyal claims an accuracy rate over 90 percent. Endometriosis affects roughly one in 10 women of reproductive age. On average, it takes a woman in the U.S. seven to 10 years from her first recognized symptoms until she finds out she has the painful disease, and confirming the diagnosis typically requires surgery under general anesthesia. NextGen Jane is currently conducting an additional infertility-focused study designed to evaluate how the test performs in patients struggling to conceive. The idea Tariyal pursued has evolved from a provocative startup pitch into a growing scientific field. Today, academic centers, hospitals and biotechnology companies across the United States are investigating the question: Could menstrual blood become one of medicine’s most valuable diagnostic tools? “The space is vibrant,” Tariyal says. “People have bought into the premise that there is something really useful in menstrual blood.” Smaller than an espresso machine, the patented machine can retrieve a viable blood sample in seconds. Courtesy of NextGen Jane Researchers at Stanford Health Care have demonstrated that menstrual blood can be used to detect high-risk strains of human papillomavirus (HPV), the virus responsible for most cervical cancers. The peer-reviewed study suggests that period blood could provide a less invasive screening option. Also in Northern California, entrepreneur Sara Naseri’s company Qvin (after kvinde, the Danish word for woman) has developed a menstrual pad that collects dried blood samples for laboratory testing. In 2024, the FDA cleared the use of the pad for monitoring hemoglobin A1c — a key marker used to manage diabetes. On Long Island, the ROSE (Research OutSmarts Endometriosis) trial at Northwell Health’s Robert S. Boas Center for Genomics and Human Genetics has spent more than a decade developing a nonsurgical diagnostic test for endometriosis using menstrual cups. Weighed down by negative news? Our smart, bright newsletters deliver the uplift you’ve been looking for. Or click here to choose exactly which ones you want [contact-form-7] And after 10 years of development, Abbott, the multinational medical device company, just released a self-collected tampon PCR test for endometrial cancer. “Women from certain ethnic communities are uncomfortable with the pap smear procedure for cultural reasons,” Tariyal explains. “Often these are the very communities that are underserved and have the highest rates of cervical cancer. At-home tests can open new vistas that you wouldn’t have thought of before.” What was once a fringe idea has become a growing ecosystem. Why did nobody think of this earlier? Perhaps it’s because most inventors and investors — still — are overwhelmingly male. Tariyal has an array of stories about her efforts to sell her tampon machine to a room full of suits. “One said this only helps half of the population,” she recounts with a half-smile and an eye roll. Another asked if the tests could be adjusted so that men could test their sexual partners for STDs. “People have bought into the premise that there is something really useful in menstrual blood,” says Tariyal. Courtesy of NextGen Jane Despite these roadblocks, Harvard University supported Tariyal’s efforts by paying for the first clinical trial and patent lawyers. But the first patents were only the beginning. The science has progressed faster than the business model. “We’re really excited about the data we have for endometriosis diagnosis,” she says. “But it’ll be a longer path to actually bringing that product into market.” The challenge, she argues, is not science, but economics: “Diagnostics is a field that’s hard to fund.” Perhaps the most surprising development at NextGen Jane is that the company no longer sees diagnosis as its ultimate goal. Over the past several years, researchers have collected more than 2,000 menstrual samples from hundreds of participants, creating what Tariyal calls a “menstrual library” containing extensive genomic, microbiome and clinical data. The original purpose was to identify disease markers. But the team began noticing something else. “Menstruation is a really unique event in female biology,” Tariyal says. “It is a controlled inflammatory event.” Every month, the body breaks down tissue, clears away cellular debris and rebuilds the uterine lining — remarkably, without leaving scars. “How can the body know how to heal with no fibrosis, no scabbing?” Tariyal asks. “Our bodies do it hundreds of times in our lifetime.” That observation has transformed the company’s ambitions. Using genomic sequencing, NextGen Jane researchers have begun mapping the transition from tissue breakdown to tissue repair. They now apply the resulting framework to diseases beyond reproductive health, including lupus, psoriasis, inflammatory bowel disease and rheumatoid arthritis. Tariyal’s theory is that many chronic inflammatory diseases represent systems that become stuck somewhere along the path between inflammation and healing. Menstruation, by contrast, may offer a natural blueprint for how healthy tissue repair is supposed to work. “Our ambitions increased,” Tariyal says. “We started out wanting to bring better diagnostics to market. But if there’s no therapy that actually helps people resolve these chronic conditions, you can do better. You can actually help understand the disease biology to bring better drugs to market.” Jaina Jogia coordinates clinical research for NextGen Jane. Courtesy of NextGen Jane In other words, menstrual blood may prove valuable not simply because it can diagnose disease, but because it can help scientists understand healing. Part of the promise lies in the fact that menstrual blood is more than just blood. “You’re actually getting shedding of endometrial lining,” Tariyal explains. That means researchers gain access to multiple cell types, including immune and precancerous cells that are absent from standard blood draws. Together, these components provide a richer picture of what is happening inside the body. “Menstrual blood gives you not just systemic immune responses,” Tariyal says. “It gives you tissue-resident immune response.” A decade ago, researchers were debating whether menstrual blood had any medical value at all. “There was no literature about menstrual blood when we started,” Tariyal recalls. “We had to create the building blocks from scratch, create a standardized collection kit, etc.” Today, the debate has shifted to which conditions it can detect, how accurately it can do so and how quickly health care systems will adapt. Wait, you're not a member yet? Join the Reasons to be Cheerful community by supporting our nonprofit publication and giving what you can. Join Cancel anytime Tariyal’s personal story has evolved, too. When she launched NextGen Jane, she was trying to answer questions about her own fertility. Now she is a mother of two. During our interview, she balances discussion of genomics with carrying her two-month-old son in a baby sling. The woman who built a company because she couldn’t get straightforward answers about her reproductive health has become both a mother and a leading figure in a rapidly developing area of medical research. For her, the story came full circle. For the science, it may only be the beginning. The post Tampons Are Becoming a Valuable Medical Tool appeared first on Reasons to be Cheerful.

Content creator Nick Wilkins had expected a cake to show up for his upcoming birthday. What he didn’t expect was a custom gender reveal cake intended for an expecting couple to show up instead. One he couldn’t return due to a policy rule.  Wilkins could have counted his losses and left it at that. But instead, he gave an impromptu gender reveal party for this couple online. It became a viral sensation.  “I got a gender reveal cake for Sam and Melissa,” Wilkins began, apologizing to the expecting parents that they have to find out their baby’s gender via a complete stranger online.  “But I gotta do it, dontchya wanna know?” he joked.  Two cupcakes. Canva A quick glance at the instructions showed that inside the cake was a mini-baby shaker. The color of the shaker would indicate the gender: blue for a boy, pink for a girl, and yellow for twins. Spoiler alert: you might want to take note of that last one.  “Ohhhhhh I hear it!” exclaimed Wilkins as he shook the confection.  Being the entertainer he is, Wilkins also made a few jokes while cutting into the cake, saying, “Why did you get Red Velvet? Melissa, we all know double chocolate is better.” Hilariously, Wilkins didn’t realize that “gutting” the cake wasn’t necessary (he merely had to take off the paper topper) until it was too late. The cake revealed a surprise no one saw coming And then, he found it. A yellow rattle. Melissa and Sam are having twins.  @n1ckwilkins ♬ Door Bell – House Doorbell Ring Effect – Care Free Sounds and Music A card Wilkins found also declared that they would be twin boys, prompting him to say, “Good luck to y’all.” Quipping that since he “feels like part of the family now,” Wilkins then pitched:  “Can I be, like, the step-uncle or something? I feel like I’m part of the family now. I could be, like, the babysitter.” Millions of viewers helped track down the expecting parents But just how were Melissa and Sam going to find out about this momentous news? That’s where the Internet sleuths come in.  By this point, millions were already invested and determined to help Wilkins find the couple. Though there were a few fake accounts in the comments, eventually the real Sam and Melissa were found.  @n1ckwilkins The internet is a wild place ♬ original sound – Nick Wilkins According to The New York Post, Melissa commented on YouTube:  “No way! Nick Wilkins, thank you for telling us our baby’s gender. I’m sorry that our cake got sent to you. We messaged the shop and are overjoyed to expect two baby boys! And yes, you can be their step-uncle!” Indeed, her profile now says, “I have a 4-year-old named Carson and 2 baby boys are on the way, along with my husband, Samuel Samson.” While there’s no telling who might be enjoying Wilkins’ birthday cake right now, he turned this mishap into an unforgettable—and truly entertaining—moment for everyone involved.  The post Guy accidentally receives gender reveal cake, hilariously gives the reveal himself appeared first on Upworthy.

Learning to read is a slow, deliberate process for kids. The required methodical connecting of speech sounds to the letter patterns they see on the page can be challenging. Their emotional investment in the story, however, is deep and instantaneous. This can, as we will soon see, present its own set of challenges.  Chelsea Archer, a Nebraska-based photographer, recently filmed her daughter Zoe reading a book from author Olivier Dunrea‘s popular Gossie & Friends series, which follows an adorable gaggle of farmyard goslings. The books are widely loved by toddlers and early readers for their gentle themes of friendship, sharing, and independence.  A tiny gosling’s missing boots prove too heartbreaking for one young reader In this particular book, however, Gossie loses her cherished red boots, leaving the gosling “heartbroken.” For little Zoe, who has “unlimited empathy” according to her mother, this was simply “too much.”  In the clip, we hear Zoe’s utter despair as she sloooooowly sounds out the words. She finally ends with a pitiful “Noooooooo!” Just as the book begins to take a more optimistic turn (Gossie will discover the boots on someone else, leading to a new friendship), Zoe has unfortunately had enough.  “I don’t like this book,” she tells Mommy through tears as she closes it for good.  View this post on Instagram This painful, yet adorable moment captured millions of hearts online “I’m sorry for laughing but ‘heartbroken?? NOOOOO!!!’ absolutely ended me ” admitted one viewer.  “That poor child is feeling every word hahahaha” commented another.  “The good news is: She has GREAT Comprehension skills!!! The bad news is: She has GREAT comprehension skills!!! ” joked a third.  Little Zoe also inspired a ton of sympathy from fellow readers who know all too well the pain of getting a little too invested in a fictional story.  “Oh Zoe, this is the life of a reader. It never gets better. (Coming from an author who drinks out of a mug labeled ‘reader’s tears’).” “‘I love reading books, its such a peaceful hobby’ also me reading said books.” “Unfortunately, I can relate.” “Literally me.” Highly sensitive kids often experience stories on a whole different level Mom reading with her son. Canva Archer told PEOPLE that Zoe, who has a “big heart” for animals, often cries when she sees an animal in distress. So, it was understandable that this book was triggering.  However, she says that the two did finish the book moments after filming the video, and Zoe was not only “relieved” to see a happy ending but has also read two other books from the series since then. Archer is “proud” that she pushed through.  May this heartwarming story remind us all that kids are truly taking on a herculean task while acquiring reading skills, especially those who are highly sensitive. If the adults in their lives remain patient and diligent, though, they just might develop both competency and a real passion for literature.  The post Mom films her daughter reading a children’s book. Her emotional investment captivates millions. appeared first on Upworthy.