Good morning,

Today’s not just any Friday—it’s International Cat Day, the purr-fect excuse to honor our whiskered overlords. Whether you share your home with a fluffy tyrant or simply admire their unbothered elegance from afar, let’s celebrate the sass, snuggles, and mysterious 3 a.m. zoomies that make cats the undisputed rulers of our hearts (and our furniture).

And if your life is currently lacking in purrs and headbutts, consider adopting and checking out local shelters in your area—you might just meet your new best friend. 😾 

Innovation

A ‘Brain Like’ Computer

Chinese engineers have unveiled a groundbreaking brain-inspired computer named Darwin Monkey, designed to mimic the structure and function of a macaque monkey’s brain. Developed by the State Key Laboratory of Brain-Machine Intelligence at Zhejiang University, the system uses over 2 billion spiking neurons and more than 100 billion synapses—roughly equivalent to the neural complexity of an actual macaque. Consuming around 2,000 watts under typical conditions, Darwin Monkey is believed to be the world’s first neuromorphic computer based on dedicated neuromorphic chips.

At the heart of the system are 960 third-generation Darwin 3 neuromorphic chips, distributed across 15 blade-style servers. “These are the third-generation brain-like neural processing units independently developed under the leadership of Zhejiang University in collaboration with Zhejiang Lab,” reported People’s Daily. Each chip supports more than 2.35 million spiking neurons and hundreds of millions of synapses, enabling the computer to simulate functions like vision, hearing, language, and learning. The chip array also includes specialized instruction sets for brain-inspired computing and supports online neuromorphic learning mechanisms.

Beyond its impressive architecture, Darwin Monkey has been equipped with intelligent applications capable of logical reasoning, content generation, and solving math problems—powered by the DeepSeek brain-like large model. According to SCMP, the system represents a major leap in neural system integration and brain-inspired operating systems. Global Times adds that the platform can simulate animal brains across a wide range of species, from elegans and zebrafish to mice and macaques, opening up new possibilities for neuroscience research. For comparison, Intel’s 2024 neuromorphic system, Hala Point, supports 1.15 billion neurons—just over half of Darwin Monkey’s capacity.

Good News

A Fearless Hero

A heart-stopping rescue was captured on surveillance footage in Russia, showing a man pulling an unconscious person off the train tracks with less than a second to spare before a speeding train roared past.

In video obtained by The Sun, security footage under a shadowy overpass shows a tall man stumbling toward the tracks as the blinding headlights of an oncoming train pierce through the darkness. Moments later, he collapses face-first onto the rail. It’s unclear whether he was intoxicated, in distress, or suffering a medical emergency. His identity—and that of the man who saved him—remains unknown.

What is known is this: two nearby bystanders noticed what happened. One of them sprinted roughly 20 yards, leapt onto the tracks, and executed what GNN called “an almighty hoist,” dragging the man away just as the train thundered through. Local outlet Komsomolskaya Pravda has issued a public call to find the hero, hoping to honor him for his extraordinary courage. WATCH the video for yourself… if you can handle the adrenaline.

Environment

Balance Returns to Yellowstone

For the first time in over 80 years, young quaking aspens are growing tall and thriving once again in northern Yellowstone National Park. Their return marks a surprising ripple effect of an iconic predator’s comeback: the gray wolf. While aspens and wolves may only seem to share bark and fur color, the real connection lies in their shared influence over Yellowstone’s elk population. According to a new study published in Forest Ecology and Management by scientists at Oregon State University, it’s the wolves’ predation on elk that has allowed young aspens to grow and mature.

Gray wolves were eradicated from Yellowstone in the 1930s, leading to an explosion in elk numbers—reaching nearly 17,000 by 1995. Without wolves to keep them in check, elk began feeding heavily on young aspen shoots, especially in winter, preventing new growth from taking hold. “The aspens would grow new sprouts, but then the sprouts couldn’t get any larger [because of the elk],” said lead author Luke Painter, an ecologist at Oregon State University. “The stands basically had older trees … and those were dying out, and then there wasn’t any new growth underneath, of young aspens, to replace those older trees.” But with the reintroduction of wolves in 1995, the elk population declined—and aspens began to bounce back.

Painter’s team tracked 87 aspen stands in northern Yellowstone in both 2012 and 2020. They discovered that 43% of the sites had young aspens with trunks at least two inches thick at chest height—something not observed since the 1940s. Even more striking, there was a 152-fold increase in aspen saplings during that period. This rejuvenation is expected to benefit many other species, including woodpeckers, wrens, and beavers, which rely on aspens for shelter and resources. “The reintroduction of large carnivores has initiated a recovery process that had been shut down for decades,” Painter said in a statement. “This is a remarkable case of ecological restoration… Wolf reintroduction is yielding long-term ecological changes contributing to increased biodiversity and habitat diversity.”

Mind Stretchers

⁉️

I don’t tick, but I do run,
Turning over when I’m done.
Grains fall slowly, never loud,
I trap time in a fragile shroud.

Yesterday’s Mind Stretchers:

My click-clack songs are old but grand,
I stamp out words by human hand.
No screen in sight, no glowing face—
Just ink, and rhythm, and metal grace. — a typewriter! Debbie Ettinger got this 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]or reply to the email.

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.