A Mexican researcher has discovered a way to make plastic from cactus that biodegrades in a month and is safe to ingest.

Credit: Jorge Valencia/KJZZ
Sandra Pascoe Ortiz, a chemical engineering professor at the University of the Valley of Atemajac, has come up with a new use for the prickly pear cactus - a staple in the country's diet - using its juice as a base for biodegradable plastic.

Her most recent samples are light green, paper thin and tough enough to be used as bags.

Pascoe Ortiz hopes the cactus-based plastic will help reduce the impact of solid waste in Mexico and around the world.

Watch the video below to learn more:


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A video of student bullfighters, some who are under 18, torturing young bulls to death has surfaced on the internet, and it is horrifying.

By now, animal rights campaigners have condemned the video in absolute rage. One of the clips shows the bull’s ears being cut off and being given to children while the other one received a tail.


One of the matadors has blood on his face as if the bull gave a fight while trying to survive.

According to activists from Animal Guardians and La Tortura No Es Cultura (Torture Is Not Culture), this was done on the behalf of an annual tradition in Cordoba. This tradition pays homage to Cordovan women.

However, Animal Guardians’ Marta Esteban said, “Every year they do this calf-fighting and they say they do it as a homage to Cordovan women,
Very few people attend, about 2,000 in a 17,000-capacity bullring. They also do it to promote the students learning bullfighting at different bullfighting schools in Andalusia.”

She added:

“The ear and/or tail of the animals are offered to the bullfighters if they perform well and then these are given to the public as a ‘present’.

One of the animals is still alive when the ear is cut off. The other ear is moving while they do that.
We cannot know the exact age of the bullfighting students involved. Some look under 18. They can kill animals from 14 years on. So those would be the ones actually torturing and performing in the bullfight.

Then there are spectators of any age and those who are invited into the bullring in their typical Cordovan costumes to pick up the ears.”


According to many campaigners, these claves already go through a lot during the events since the inexperienced matadors don’t know how to handle them properly.

Right now, they’re encouraging women to fight against this by sending complaints to council chiefs in Cordoba.

Aside from this, the hashtag #NoQuieroTuHomenaje, which translates as ‘I do not want your homage’, is making its way around Twitter and other social media.

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The bald eagle is our nation’s symbol as it represents freedom and independence. However, ironically, bald eagles are disappearing all over the country and no one seems to care about the matter.

The species is almost facing extinction as their food source is being poisoned. Extremely dangerous chemicals are released in their habitats causing them a painful death. When a bald eagle was brought to a wildlife rehabilitation centre, he wasn’t even able to hold his head up.

“His head was upside down when we got him. Lead affects the nerves, so that’s your brain, your use of muscles, all parts of the body. The birds often cannot stand … They usually have difficulty breathing. They cannot even open their beaks,” Lynn Tompkins, executive director of Blue Mountain Wildlife Rehabilitation and Education Center in Oregon, told the Dodo.


And what’s even more sad it’s that many other bird species are being affected by the manufactures negligence. As Tompkins declared: “We’re finding it in more and more species,. We started off with eagles but now we’re also testing hawks, owls and other birds. ”

As about those birds who were affected but managed to survive, it takes few months until they are fully rehabilitated.


“We had one eagle whose lead level was relatively low, but she was paralyzed, she couldn’t stand, she couldn’t unclench her feet,” Tomkins said. “It took several treatments to get the lead level down. It took several months for her to fly normally again. It took six months. That was a long time.”

Unfortunately, the latest eagle who was brought into the centre will never have the chance to fly again. Even after days of treatment. “This particular bird, every once in a while, he’d get startled and flap his wing out of fear, and then he’d stop. The treatment cannot reach the lead that’s already gotten into other tissues,” Tompkins explained.




“So far this year we’ve had three bald eagles come into the center – all of them had toxic levels of lead.It [the lead] is toxic. There’s no argument about that,” she added.


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A high school in Iowa is allowing students to earn physical education credits by helping the elderly.

Credit: KWWL
While most students across the country earn PE credits with extracurricular activities like athletics and marching band, the Alternative Learning Center in Dubuque, Iowa, is giving students the option to do yard work for people unable to do the physical labor on their own.

"Could be raking leaves, pulling weeds, cutting grass, cleaning gutters, just depends on what they need," teacher Tim Hitzler told KWWL.

Hitzler says he wanted to add the yard work as an option for the students to receive credit because it is not only a way for the school to help out the community, but it is beneficial to the students as well.

"The students aren't typically too excited at the beginning but once they get involved and start doing the yard work they become more motivated," he said. "What they really like is A: helping people. They really like giving back to people and meeting the person."


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