Good morning! 🌞 

Before diving into the daily grind, why not gift yourself five quiet minutes? This guided morning meditation sets the tone for calm, focus, and real positive energy. Because how we start the day often shapes the rest of it.

Health Sciences

Gene Trial Restores Hearing

A groundbreaking clinical trial has restored hearing in all 10 children and young adults who received gene therapy for congenital deafness, marking a major milestone in the treatment of inherited hearing loss. Participants—ranging in age from 1 to 24—had never heard common sounds like rainfall or a parent’s voice due to mutations in the OTOF gene. But after a single injection of a healthy version of the gene, delivered via a modified virus into the cochlea, every patient experienced hearing improvements. One seven-year-old girl recovered nearly all her hearing within four months and now holds daily conversations with her mother.

The results, published in Nature Medicine, were especially dramatic among younger participants aged five to eight. On average, the volume at which sound became detectable dropped from a deafening 106 decibels to just 52—enabling the perception of everyday sounds. “This is a huge step forward in the genetic treatment of deafness,” said Dr. Maoli Duan of the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, one of the study's lead researchers. In a striking moment, Duan recalled a patient who had received cochlear implants in one ear and gene therapy in the other. After treatment, the girl stepped outside after a storm and heard the sound of rain for the very first time.

Worldwide, around 200,000 people suffer from hearing loss caused by OTOF mutations, which block the production of otoferlin—a protein essential for translating sound into brain signals. The therapy, well tolerated by all participants, is now entering its next phase: a five-to-10-year follow-up to measure how long the restored hearing lasts. Encouraged by these early results, Duan says researchers are already developing gene therapies for other, more common forms of hereditary deafness, such as those linked to the GJB2 and TMC1 genes. “OTOF is just the beginning,” he said.

Lifestyle

A 4-Season Oasis

For nearly three decades, 76-year-old John Massey has quietly cultivated what’s now hailed as one of Britain’s most spectacular private gardens—all without a day of formal training. Located behind his bungalow in Kingswinford, West Midlands, his ten-acre property bursts with year-round color, showcasing 20,000 flowers, trees, and shrubs from around the world. What began in 1998 as a simple patch of grass has grown into a botanical masterpiece, blending hardy UK natives with exotic plants from Japan, South Africa, and Turkey. “The garden hasn’t really been planned, it’s just evolved over 27 years,” Massey explained. “I started by the house and just moved out—and just kept going.”

Despite its organic beginnings, the garden reflects a deep understanding of landscape design and horticultural technique. Massey—who earned the Royal Horticultural Society’s Victoria Medal of Honour and four golds at the Chelsea Flower Show—credits much of his inspiration to Princess Greta Sturdza of France’s Le Vasterival garden. Her teachings on “transparency pruning,” which turns each tree and shrub into a sculptural element, continue to shape his garden's structure today. Seasonal highlights include blue, pink, and white hydrangeas in summer, asters and grasses in autumn, winter cornus and spindle trees, and spring’s parade of hellebores, narcissus, and anemones. “We work on three layers,” he says. “If we want to keep people coming back, we need change.”

For the past 22 years, Massey has welcomed visitors every Saturday from February to December, raising more than £500,000 for charity. With four full-time helpers, daily 7 a.m. starts, and late-night slug patrols, maintaining the garden is a full-time devotion. “I do love the whole garden—I love it all. It is constantly changing,” he said. Even after 57 years in horticulture, Massey remains a student of the craft. “A friend of mine described horticulture as the slowest form of art—it takes 20 years to reach maturity,” he reflected. “I wouldn’t like to think how much I’ve spent on it. It’s a passion… but we’ve raised a lot of money for good causes in the process.”

Environment

From Sketch to Screen

From a black-and-white mouse steering a steamboat to photo-realistic lions on the savanna, Disney has spent the last 100 years proving that animation is more than just moving pictures—it’s living art.

Today, we’re featuring a video that takes us through Disney’s evolution: the jittery charm of Steamboat Willie, the lush storybook worlds of Sleeping Beauty and The Little Mermaid, the digital revolution with Toy Story, and all the way to today’s CGI masterpieces.

It’s a reminder that while the tools change—from pencils to pixels—storytelling, wonder, and heart never go out of style.

👉 Watch the full video here and see just how far the magic has come!

Mind Stretchers

❓️ 

I twist and turn, yet never tire.
I reflect the sky, yet burn no fire.
I carry life, carve the land,
Yet slip forever through your hand.
What am I?

Yesterday’s Mind Stretchers:

Capped or clicked, I stand ready to flow, My veins run ink, not blood you know. Held in hand, I bring thoughts to life. What am I? -a pen! Debbie Ettinger got this correct 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]

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.