Good Morning All,
There were a lot of good articles today. One was about overcoming paralysis, two were about rescuing family members, two were environmentally friendly, one was about fruits and veggies... and then there were the two I'm going to highlight today.
The first one is about a bald eagle who is ironically nicknamed "Beauty". Her beak was shot off a couple years ago, and she is now getting a bionic beak to replace it.
The second story is about a rare archaeological find in Honduras. The find indicates that ancient Mayans were quite skilled at creating cloth finery.
I hope you enjoy the articles today! I'll see you tomorrow. :)
Today's top 5:
1. 'Paralysed for Life' Woman Defies Doctors and Walks After Four Weeks (Daily Mail UK)
2. Boy Rescues Family Terrorised by Gunmen (News.com AU)
3. Rare Textiles from Honduras Ruins Suggests Mayans Produced Fine Fabrics (Science Daily)
4. Fruit and Veggie Carts Get Push from City (New York Post)
5. 16-year-old Boy Rescued After Fall from Sonoma County Cliff (San Fransisco Chronicle)
Honorable Mentions:
1. Bird Named Beauty to Sport Bionic Beak (Santa Fe New Mexican)
2. Woman Saves Sister from Burning House (ABC News 10)
3. Office Furniture Recycling Scheme in Scotland (The Scotsman)
4. Railroad in Colorado Will Plant Trees to Offset Pollution (Denver Post)
Top 5:
1. 'Paralysed for Life' Woman Defies Doctors and Walks After Four Weeks with New Rehabilitation Machine
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=564105&in_page_id=1770
Last updated at 11:19am on 5th May 2008
A hairdresser who was told she would never walk again after a freak trampoline accident left her with a broken neck was on her feet within four weeks thanks to a revolutionary piece of medical equipment.
Jeanette Sykes, 39, had to give up her business of 18 years after she twisted awkwardly on a trampoline at a friend's barbecue, broke her neck and was diqagnosed a tetraplegic.
But Jeanette refused to believe she would never walk again, and was determined to become active once again.
She said: "I couldn't believe what had happened to me.
"I would never have dreamed something like this can happen on a trampoline, you think you're safe because you are jumping on a soft surface.
"I imagined I would be in a wheelchair and that I had lost everything I'd worked towards."
Following the accident, which happened in July 2006, Jeanette endured a risky operation where doctors inserted screws to support the fracture in her neck followed by five months of rigorous rehabilitation in the Spinal Injuries Centre at Pinderfields Hospital, Wakefield, West Yorkshire.
Her accident coincided with the trial of a revolutionary piece of spinal rehabilitation equipment at the hospital, named the Lokomat.
Up and about: Jeannette was told she would never walk again - but astonished doctors by taking steps in just four weeks
The machine is a Swiss-made robotic harness on a treadmill which allows the patient to walk without the weight of the body and improves mobility in those with spinal injuries.
Fighter Jeanette was one of the first people in the country to use one and to her own amazement, just four weeks after using the Lokomat, Jeanette was able to walk short distances using crutches.
Recalling the accident single Jeanette, from Dewsbury, West Yorks., added: "I went on the trampoline with my friend Mark and we were just playing around.
"He stopped for a moment to talk to someone and I don't know if it was the fact that I was the only one bouncing whilst he stood still but I did a little turn and landed really awkwardly.
"I knew straight away that I'd broken my neck."
She endured a four-week programme on the machine, which costs £155,000.
Nearly two years later brave Jeanette is still going for regular physiotherapy sessions and, although life will never be as it was, she feels delighted that she is able to walk and get around.
She said: "I am lucky to be able to do what I can today. My hands have been badly affected by the accident and I can't do all the things I used to do in the same way, like painting, horseriding, and of course, hairdressing.
"It's hard because it was a freak accident that has put me in this position. "It is too easy for people to be able to buy a trampoline and shove it in their back garden without being made aware of how dangerous it actually is.
"I see they make trampolines with nets around them now but a net would not have saved me. It's providing a false sense of security.
"So many people have trampolines and do not realise what they can do. I don't want to be a killjoy but they really are that dangerous. I am living proof of that."
Spokesman for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), Roger Vincent, said that the latest figures for accidents involving trampolines showed injuries had increased by 50 percent over a five-year period.
He said: "There has been a boom in the number of garden trampolines in the UK and you can buy them everywhere as they are widely available from DIY stores and garden centres.
"They can be a lot of fun and I don't want to be all doom and gloom but they can be very dangerous if the safety guidelines they are sold with are not followed and respected.
"We recommend that only one person should ever use the trampoline at a time, that it comes with proper safety pads that cover the springs, hooks and the frame and that it is placed on a soft surface in clear area, which is free from hazards such as trees, fences, washing lines, poles or other equipment.
2. Boy Rescues Family Terrorised by Gunmen
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23650258-421,00.html
May 05, 2008 01:08pm
Armed gunmen tie up family and ransack their house
Pistol-whipped the father and fled with cash, jewellery
Boy, 5, wakes up and unties his family
A FIVE-year-old boy rescued his family after they were tied up by masked gunman who ransacked the house.
Two masked men armed with pistols burst into the house at Plumpton, northwest of Melbourne, after 1am, police said.
They tied up a 16-year-old boy in his bedroom before tying up his mother and father in their room.
The father was pistol-whipped in the head before the raiders fled with cash and jewellery.
A five-year-old boy slept through the robbery but woke to the cries of his family.
"He managed to untie them," Detective Sergeant Rod Arthur said.
"It was very well done and he was very level-headed."
The boy's father sustained minor head injuries but did not need to be taken to hospital.
Det Sgt Arthur told Fairfax radio it did not not appear the gunmen knew the family before the attack.
"It appears to be (random) at this stage but obviously we are conducting further investigations in regards to the matter, but at this stage it would appear to be an isolated incident," he said.
The incident, which happened in a semi-rural area, should serve as a warning not to leave houses unlocked, Det Sgt Arthur said.
"Obviously we do have concerns in regards to this type of incident happening ... in an isolated location that it happened, so it's fairly prudent that people do take proper care and ensure they lock up their houses," he said.
"You just don't take it for granted that you're in an isolated location and nothing will happen."
Investigators believe the pair - who are believed to be between 20-25 years old and were wearing dark clothing - escaped in a vehicle and are appealing to anyone who saw any suspicious activity to come forward.
3. Rare Textiles from Honduras Ruins Suggests Mayans Produced Fine Fabrics
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080430173528.htm
ScienceDaily (May 5, 2008)
Very few textiles from the Mayan culture have survived, so the treasure trove of fabrics excavated from a tomb at the Copán ruins in Honduras since the 1990s has generated considerable excitement.
Textiles conservator Margaret Ordoñez, a professor at the University of Rhode Island, spent a month at the site in 2004 examining 100 textile samples found in a tomb, and since then she has been analyzing tiny fragments of 49 samples she brought back to her lab to see what she could learn from them.
The tomb, one of three excavated by archaeologists from the University of Pennsylvania, was of a woman of high status who was buried during the 5th century.
“What was most amazing was that there were as many as 25 layers of fabrics on an offertory platform and covering pottery in the tomb, and they all had a different fabric structure, color, and yarn size, so it’s likely that the tomb was reopened – perhaps several times -- and additional layers of textiles were laid there years after her death,” said Ordoñez.
One fabric in particular had an especially high thread count – 100 yarns per inch – which Ordoñez said is even considered high for modern textiles. “It speaks to the technology they had at the time for making very fine fabrics. It’s gratifying that we’ve been able to document that the Mayans were quite skillful at spinning and weaving.”
Analyzing these ancient textile samples is a complex and laborious process, particularly because the remnant samples are so small.
Ordoñez pulled out about 30 plastic containers the size of a film canister, and inside each was what looked like a rock or bit of compressed mud about an inch in diameter. Within each piece were flecks of what only an expert could tell are tiny fragments of fabric.
“Sometimes you really have to use your imagination to tell that there’s a textile in there,” she said.
Handling each piece very carefully so it doesn’t crumble, Ordoñez uses a stereomicroscope to examine the yarn structure, the fabric structure, and the finish on each sample. She then brings the sample to the URI Sensors and Surface Technology Laboratory to use a scanning electron microscope to look in more fine detail at the plant material from which each piece of yarn was made.
“I can look at the cell structure of the yarn and compare it to reference materials to identify the kind of plant each thread is made from,” explained Ordoñez, who may spend as many as three days examining each fragment. “We’ve found threads made from cotton, sedge grasses, and all kinds of other plant fibers.”
After completing the analysis of the textile samples in her lab this summer, the URI professor plans to return to the Copán ruins in 2009 to examine more fragments from the woman’s tomb and other sites. She said the working conditions at the site are challenging and the research facilities are primitive, but the site provides the best opportunity to learn more about the Mayan culture.
She may even do a study of Mayan statuary at the site to see what she can learn from the way that sculptors represented textiles from the period.
URI Department of Communications & Marketing photo by Michael Salerno Photography.
4. Fruit and Veggie Carts Get Push from City
http://www.nypost.com/seven/05052008/news/regionalnews/fruit__veggie_carts_get_push_from_city_109438.htm
By David Seifman, City Hall Bureau Chief
May 5, 2008
He has rid city bars and restaurants of cigarette smoke, banned artery-clogging trans fats, and required eateries to post calorie counts on menus.
Now Mayor Bloomberg wants more citizens to eat their fruits and veggies.
Citing the results of a 2004 Health Department survey, the city has announced plans to place the first 500 of 1,000 fresh-produce carts in the South Bronx in July.
Some 10,000 New Yorkers were asked: "How many servings of fruits and vegetables did you eat yesterday?" In nine of 12 Bronx neighborhoods, more than 15 percent answered, "None."
The neighborhood with the worst mark was Brooklyn's East New York, at 26 percent. The best was Manhattan's Upper West Side, where just 7 percent skipped their apples and broccoli.
Cathy Nonas, Health Department director of physical activity and nutrition, isn't surprised.
"If you don't get exposure to these foods, you grow up not eating them," she said. "Every time there's been fruits and vegetables introduced [in a poor neighborhood], it's been successful."
The second 500 carts are to be rolled out next year.
Nelson Eusebio, executive director of the National Supermarket Association, insists that the 400 markets he represents are being unfairly targeted.
"People [here just] don't eat as much vegetables as in suburbia," he said. "It has nothing to do with us."
5. 16-year-old Boy Rescued After Fall from Sonoma County Cliff
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/04/BAPF10GT2Q.DTL
Monday, May 5, 2008
(05-04) 22:53 PDT Bodega Bay -- A Central Valley teenager was injured Sunday evening after he fell 30 feet from a cliff above a beach north of Bodega Bay, according to officials with the Sonoma County Sheriff's Department.
The 16-year-old boy had climbed up the cliff from Schoolhouse Beach and was approaching the top when he lost his balance and tumbled backward, landing on the rocks at the base of the bluff, officials said.
Bodega Bay firefighters and state park rangers were called about 6 p.m. and hiked across the beach to the teen, whom they described as suffering moderate injuries.
A sheriff's helicopter airlifted the boy, who is from Riverbank, Calif., outside Modesto, to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, authorities said.
- Tyche Hendricks
Honorable Mention:
1. Bird Named Beauty to Sport Bionic Beak
http://www.santafenewmexican.com/SantaFeNorthernNM/Bird-named-Beauty-to-sport-bionic-beak
5/3/2008 -
ST. MARIES, Idaho — The eagle is named Beauty, although she is anything but.
Beauty's beak was partially shot off several years ago, leaving her with a stump that is useless for hunting food. A team of volunteers is working to attach an artificial beak to the disfigured bird, in an effort to keep her alive.
"For Beauty, it's like using only one chopstick to eat. It can't be done," said biologist Jane Fink Cantwell, who operates a raptor recovery center in this Idaho Panhandle town. "She has trouble drinking. She can't preen her feathers. That's all about to change."
Cantwell has spent the past two years assembling a team to design and build an artificial beak for Beauty, and it is due to be attached next month. With the beak, the 7-year-old bald eagle could live to the age of 50, although not in the wild. "She could not survive in the wild without human intervention," Cantwell said.
The 15-pound female eagle was found in 2005 scrounging for food and slowly starving to death at a Dutch Harbor, Alaska, landfill. Most of her curved upper beak had been shot away, leaving her tongue and sinuses exposed, and she could not clutch or tear at food.
Beauty was taken to a bird recovery center in Anchorage, Alaska, where she was hand-fed for two years while her caretakers waited in vain for a new beak to grow.
"They had exhausted their resources, and she would likely be euthanized," Cantwell said.
After getting complicated permits from the federal government, Beauty was taken in 2007 to Cantwell's Birds of Prey Northwest ranch near St. Marie's, about 50 miles southeast of Spokane, Wash.
Shortly after, Cantwell was speaking in Boise, where Nate Calvin heard the story of Beauty. Calvin, a mechanical engineer, approached her afterward and offered to design an artificial beak.
From there, Cantwell started adding volunteers, including a dentist, veterinarian and other experts.
Molds were made of the existing beak parts and scanned into a computer, so the bionic beak could be created as accurately as possible. The nylon-composite beak is light and durable, and will be glued onto the eagle.
They did not want to screw the new beak unto the stump of the remaining beak because the stump was so close to the brain and eye that it was risky, Cantwell said. But if the glue fails, screws will be tried, she said.
Either way, the beak won't be strong enough to allow Beauty to cut and tear flesh from prey. But it will help her drink water, and grip and eat the food she is given.
The new beak will be yellow, and look as natural as possible. That's because Beauty has the potential to breed, and also to be a foster mother for orphaned eagles.
Fashioning the beak was slow because it must fit snugly over jagged injuries. The gunshot tore off most of her upper beak, while leaving her lower beak.
"One side has much greater damage than the other," Cantwell said. "It's not as simple as a quick, snapped-off beak, 90 degrees and flush."
Cantwell currently feeds Beauty, often with strips of salmon dropped into her mouth with a forceps. The bird, which has a 6-foot wingspan and lives in an outdoor aviary, will continue to be fed by humans.
The successful attachment of a prosthetic beak is not unheard of, but it remains rare, said Julia Ponder, executive director of The Raptor Center at the University of Minnesota. "Not enough of these have been done out there to say, 'yes, it can be done successfully,' " Ponder said. "Whether or not it will be functional is a question."
Erik Stauber of the nearby Washington State University veterinary hospital in Pullman does not have a lot of faith the artificial beak will work.
"It's a valiant effort to do something," Stauber said. "We have no experience with it."
While birds of prey are notoriously skittish around humans, Beauty has become somewhat comfortable with people. She allows herself to be carried by Cantwell, and also lies on examination tables while she is poked and prodded by those making the beak.
"She laid on the table for nearly two hours, fully conscious, knowing full well I was handling and restraining her, and never once trying to escape," Cantwell said. "I suspect she knows we are not trying to hurt her."
Cantwell is asked why she is going to such extremes to save one injured eagle, an animal no longer on the endangered species list. She said Beauty will become an educational bird, taken to schools.
"She's a miracle recovery patient from her initial injuries," she said. "She will be a huge educational tool, primarily to instruct people on why we should not shoot raptors and why they are beneficial to the environment."
"Give me an hour with a third or sixth-grader and they will never shoot a raptor," she said.
2. Woman Saves Sister from Burning House
http://www.news10.net/display_story.aspx?storyid=41476
George Warren's 6 p.m. Report, 5/02/08
Jessica Lazaro said she acted instinctively to save her developmentally disabled sister
SACRAMENTO, CA - Firefighters described as "heroic" the actions taken by a woman to save her younger sister from a burning house.
Jessica Lazaro, 27, fought her way through the smoke-filled home to rescue her sister Nicole in a back bedroom Thursday night.
Nicole is developmentally disabled and started the fire in the kitchen while the rest of the family was in the backyard celebrating her 22nd birthday.
Nobody noticed Nicole had gone into the house until they saw smoke and flames pouring out.
"I really thought she was dead," said Nicole's mother Nancy Labeda.
Jessica rushed through a back door and searched through heavy smoke for her sister, eventually finding her in the bedroom. Jessica pushed Nicole out the window while friends outside sprayed her with a garden house.
Jessica said she never thought of her own safety when she rushed into the house.
"My first instinct was to go and get my sister and that's what I did," she said as she choked back tears.
Sacramento Fire Department Battallion Chief Ed Bassett praised Jessica's action.
"It's not recommended that you go running back into a burning building, but (she) was very heroic to save her sister," he said.
Nicole's clothing was singed, but she was not hurt. Most of the damage to the home was confined to the kitchen.
Coincidentally one of the firefighters who put out the fire was also celebrating a birthday on Thursday, his 30th.
As his colleagues finished mopping up, George Picha shared his birthday cake with Nicole and her family.
3. Office Furniture Recycling Scheme in Scotland
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/scotland/Office-furniture-recycling-scheme.4049850.jp
Monday, 5th May 2008
A CHARITY is helping to reduce Scotland's landfill burden by up to 20,000 tonnes per year by recycling old office furniture.
Recycle Scotland has formed a partnership with Space Solutions – Scotland's biggest independent experts in the design, fit-out and relocation of workplaces – to reuse old furniture it acquires from its contracts, rather than have it go into landfill.
4. Railroad in Colorado Will Plant Trees to Offset Pollution
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_9153161
The Denver Post
Article Last Updated: 05/05/2008 12:00:07 AM MDT
The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad says it will plant more than 2,500 trees in southwest Colorado this year to offset carbon pollution from its coal-fired steam locomotives. The historic excursion train is working with Durango-based CarbonZero, a company that analyzes carbon emissions and comes up with plans to offset them.
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