Bears get snow day in San Diego

0:03 Kalaroga Shark Media. Hey there, I'm Johnny Mack with five good news stories. Recently, there was snow in San Diego, specifically at the San Diego Zoo. They treated their grizzly bears, Scout and Montana, to a snow day, using industrial snowblowers to replicate late spring weather that they would experience in the wild. Scout and Montana are brothers. They were rescued as cubs from an area outside Yellowstone National Park about twenty years ago. The zoo said they and their mother repeatedly found unsecured food in human occupied areas, creating safety risks for both bears and local communities. Their story serves as an important reminder that properly storing food and securing trash and bear country helps protect both people and wildlife.

0:46 I hope they enjoyed the snow. Meanwhile, in Scotland, a family that has owned one of the world's great wildlife treasures for more than three centuries has decided the birds can have it. The Dalrypple family has sold Bass Rock, which is a small island in the Firth of Fourth that is home to around one hundred thousand gannetts and ten thousand puffins. They've sold it to conservationists who will protect the site for generations to come. Bass Rock rises dramatically from the seeds, covered in nesting seabirds, and dotted with the remains of a medieval castle, a lighthouse, and a notorious prison once known as Scotland's Alcatraz. Sir David Attenborough described it as one of the twelve Wildlife Wonders of the World. The family had owned it for three hundred and twenty years. Sir Hugh Dalrymple said, I made the decision to do this because of the risk the birds are now facing. I thought an organization like the RSPB would be better equipped to protect the islands and their wildlife than a private individual. He said. There was some emotional regret, but he's pleased that the islands now have dedicated conservation guardians. Scientists continue to get it done.

1:47 There's some scientists in Switzerland that have restored normal movement in mice whose spinal cords had been completely severed. They did it using microscopic robots, stem cells, and magnets. Researchers at et Zurich say the breakthrough could eventually transform the treatment of spinal cord injuries. When the spinal cord is damaged, nerve cells rarely grow back on their own. Scar tissue often blocks new connections, leaving patients with permanent paralysis or loss of movement. So the Swiss team decided to try something different. They started with stem cells that can develop into nerve cells. They combine those cells with specifically diagnosed nanoparticles that respond to magnetic fields. The result is something they call an npc bot. Think of it as a tiny repair crew. The nanoparticles can be guided to an injury site and then stimulated magnetically, creating electrical signals that encourage stem cells to grow and reconnect damaged nerves. The first team tried it in zebrafish. The results were encouraging.

2:43 Then they tried it in mice. Twenty eight days later, the nerve cells on either side of the jury had reconnected. The mice gradually regained increasingly normal movement. In Canada, a woman who rescued an injured crow has been adopted by the local crow community and they are paying her back with yes Yeah. Leah spotted a young crow trapped in a roof gutter. She was looking around for assistance noticed something nearby a fire truck. She approached the firefighters and said, hey, you look like you want to save a crow today. Great line. The firefighters agreed. They brought over a ladder, freed the trap bird, and then left Leah with the responsibility of figuring it out from there. She accepted, but she says, the young crow grabbed onto her finger before being taken for treatment. He latched on on my finger and held on. That was life changing. Not too long after, Leah was walking her dog and noticed a crow fly down and drop something at her feet. It was a small bundle of feathers, a gift. Since then, she's received more presents from local crows. Now, whenever she walks through the neighborhood, the birds gather around her, circling overhead and falling along, as if she's their favorite celebrity. The crow she rescued still visits her. He's easy to identify because he has a leg band that was attached when he was released back into the wild. And congrats to an eleven year old boy in England, he discovered a two million year old tooth from an ancient elephant. Charlie was walking on the beach and had just been talking about how much he loves elephants. He looked down and saw an oddly shaped rock, but it didn't feel like a rock.

4:10 Charlie's mother, Eleanor, said it must have been quite distinctive because it caught both our eyes. So we picked it up. We could tell something different at a different feel to it. They contacted experts who said that Charlie had found the upper left molar of an extinct elephant relative called Anachus or venisis. I probably got that wrong, regardless that species roomed parts of Europe roughly eight and a half million years ago. I just believed that type of animal weighed as much as six tons and was eight feet tall. It was also known for long, straight tusks. The tooth itself four inches across. Charlie now can humble Braggy is the coolest show. Until item in school we said, I've found a two million year old elephant tooth on the beach.

4:50 Those are your five good news stories for today. Have a great day.