Eddy's Good News: A story from ancient history and 200-year-old Lotus seeds in full bloom

Virgin Radio

3 Jul 2024, 16:11

Every day during his show on Virgin Radio Anthems, Eddy Temple-Morris brings you Good News stories from around the world, to help inject a bit of positivity into your day!

Be sure to listen each day between 2pm and 6pm (Monday - Friday) to hear Eddy's Good News stories (amongst the finest music of course), but if you miss any of them you can catch up on the transcripts of Eddy's most recent stories below:

Monday 3rd July 2024

A heartwarming story of ancient history now and a discovery in a cave in Spain that’s opened our eyes to the surprising compassion of early humans.

Finding skull fragments of a 6-year-old Neanderthal would be exciting on its own, but the skull carried two major surprises. Firstly an analysis of the inner ear canal showed signs of Down Syndrome, the earliest-known evidence of the genetic condition. According to expert paleoanthropologists this child would have suffered at the very least, from complete deafness, severe vertigo attacks and an inability to maintain balance. All of which leads to the second surprise: The child survived until 6, indicating compassion and willingness to bear extra work on behalf of individuals in a group who couldn’t take care of themselves. He or she would have been taken care of, carried up hills and mountains.

It gives a whole new perspective on the instincts for kindness and caring among our earlier ancestors between 273,000 and 146,000 years ago.

Via: goodnewsnetwork.org

There are beautiful lotus flowers in full bloom at a world famous temple in Japan, that doesn’t sound at all unusual, but if I told you these lotuses were grown from 200 year old seeds, you’d be more impressed right!?

Say Konichiwa to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Byōdō-in Temple in Uji where a 200 year old pond was excavated and they found lotus seeds buried in the mud. The lotus is a fundamental and foundational part of Buddhist iconography, and these gorgeous milky white flowers look very similar to the ones depicted in the ancient murals on the temple walls.

The fact that after 200 years the seeds still germinate is a testament to the amazing physiology of seeds and more specifically, reflects the true nature of the lotus plant—not as a dainty ornamental, but as a hardy survivor; anyone who’s grown lotus flowers knows they continue to bloom even when the water is filthy and contaminated. They are survivors and they are beautiful, just like us.

Via: youtube.com