Batman River fish feared extinct spotted in Turkey after near 50-year absence

Good News Notes: “Batman has returned — the Batman River loach, that is. The tiny freshwater fish was last seen by scientists in southeastern Turkey in 1974. The yellow-and-brown-striped loach, which grows to only around 1.4 inches, is the Middle East’s smallest loach species. Categorized as critically endangered, it once populated the streams and tributaries around…

UMass Medical School drama therapy mental illness patients

Good News Notes: “In the play “Lost & Found,” there is a king, a queen, a princess and a wise man. The characters are reading the lines on their scripts. But those “actors” are not real actors from a drama series.   They are a group of people struggling with mental illness who are either stuck in the dark or in the process of recovery, going through a…

€1 Million Prize for Plastics-to-Protein Research Awarded to Steve Techtmann, Ting Lu

Good News Notes: “Plastic waste and access to nutritious food top the list of humanity’s challenges. Yet humans are nothing if not innovative, especially in the face of adversity. Michigan Technological University’s Steve Techtmann, associate professor of biological sciences, aims to convert plastic waste and inedible biomass into edible protein — a biological sleight of hand…