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Lillie Vehling (Image Credit: YouTube/ KOMO News) College student Lillie Vehling was sitting near Lake Washington in Seattle, reading and waiting for the U.S. Navy Blue Angels air show during Seafair weekend when she noticed something alarming in the water. Three young girls were struggling to stay afloat beyond the buoy line. Vehling, who had…

In 1908, a railway worker clearing sand beside a track in what is now Namibia noticed something unusual: stones that caught the sunlight. His German supervisor, August Stauch, recognised the discovery as diamonds, setting off a rush that would transform one of southern Africa’s harshest landscapes. Within months, prospectors and mining companies were moving into…

Not everyone who closes their eyes and hits the bed at night goes to sleep. Some end up transitioning into a dream-like state that has them waking up while feeling hazy, lazy and heavy, with no feelings of rest and freshness. But is it the dreams that weigh you out or does it have something…

Trout representative image For more than seven decades, a quiet stream in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, has been held back by a concrete barrier. Fresh Brook, once known as “Trout Brook,” was a thriving habitat for native sea-run brook trout, locally called “salters”, until the early 1950s. Anglers from across the country travelled to Cape Cod to…

Aurora, Colorado, is using smart water meters to enforce drought rules as the city faces severe water shortages. The meters track water use throughout the day. This allows Aurora Water, the city’s municipal utility department, to identify lawns being watered outside the permitted schedule.Under the city’s current Stage 1 drought restrictions, grass can be watered…

The G.L.O.V.E., sits on a table after a demonstration at the Oklahoma County Detention Center. (Photo: AP) US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s plan to spend up to $20 million on electric-shock gloves is facing criticism from civil rights groups and Democratic officials, with a pending wrongful-death lawsuit in Kentucky raising concerns over the potential misuse…

Almost 30,000 young native trees have been planted at Lenamore Wood in Northern Ireland, marking the beginning of a restoration project that could take a century to mature. Oak, alder and rowan now cover parts of the 41-acre site near Gortin, though the future woodland is still difficult to picture. The trees remain small, sheltered…

A decade ago, more than 99% of sunflower sea stars vanished from the depths of the ocean. Now, the discovery of a long-lost colony of these organisms is offering new hope for the region’s kelp forests.Sunflower sea stars, known as Pycnopodia helianthoides, may look like an aesthetic and purely decorative feature on the ocean floor,…

Image Credit: stmarksuccallentown.org After its congregation dwindled to just 26 members, St. Mark’s United Church of Christ in Bloomington, Minnesota, made the difficult decision to close, turning its final chapter into an extraordinary act of generosity. According to Minnesota nonprofit Loaves & Fishes, which provides meals to people facing hunger, St. Mark’s distributed about $600,000…

Dog parents, this is your ‘told you’ moment! All those times you felt your dog sensed your mood before you even said a word, that wasn’t nothing. The time when you were crying your heart out and your baby just rested on your lap? That was him reading you. Not guessing. Not just picking up…