By Melissa Wuske

Tragedy Averted Through Scripture

On New Year’s Eve, a man walked into a service at Heal the Land Outreach Ministries in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Immediately the minister and congregation knew something was wrong: the man had a gun. “When I saw him, I thought it was a dummy gun, but then I saw the bullet clip in his hand and the bullets were shining,” said minister Larry Wright. 

Wright, a retired soldier, greeted the man with the simple words, “Can I help you?” The man asked for prayer. Then Wright asked the man for the gun and ammunition and continued his message—which happened to be about senseless violence in the community. 

Meanwhile someone in the congregation called the police, but Wright asked them to wait outside. “I finished the message, I did the altar call, and he stood right up, came up to the altar, and gave his life to Christ,” Wright said. “I came down and prayed with him and we embraced. It was like a father embracing a son.”

“It didn’t seem real,” said Allison Woods, a member of the congregation. “It was like the Scripture that our minister was reading, it was like it came off the page.”

Futuristic Offshore Living

As the world’s population continues to grow, Belgian architect Vincent Callebaut is working on eco-friendly “oceanscrapers”—massive structures that reach from ocean surface to floor—that could house up to 20,000 people each. They look a bit like jellyfish, and Callebaut’s plans call for the buildings to be constructed from recycled plastics from the Great Pacific garbage patch, a highly concentrated area of plastic debris, possibly the size of Texas. 

The project is called Aequorea, and the buildings, which are designed to withstand pressure and currents, would include dwelling spaces, as well as offices, farms, hotels, and other communal spaces. The communities would use desalinated ocean water for drinking and microalgae to recycle organic waste, and light would be provided through bioluminescence (light produced by living organisms). 

Search online for “Vincent Callebaut Aequorea” to see drawings of his proposed oceanscrapers.

Do Cells Determine Stress Response?

A recent study by Center for Mitochondrial and Epigenomic Medicine at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia has found a possible root of human’s varying stress responses: mitochondria, the energy centers of cells. 

Douglas Wallace, who headed the study, found that variations in mitochondrial DNA in mice caused “a markedly different response” to stress. The study found that “hyperexcitable mice [had] severe learning and memory defects.” The study hints at human response to stress and could be the start of valuable research about psychiatric and neurologic diseases.

Pilot Intervenes for Grieving Family

A Delta pilot saved the day for a family. Nicole Wibel, Rick Short, and their family were trying to get to Tennessee for their father’s funeral, but delays caused them to arrive at the gate in Minneapolis as the plane was pulling away. The airline employees said there was nothing they could do, but the pilot saw the family crying and waving wildly in the airport window. After being informed that the family was traveling for a funeral, the pilot made the decision to go back for the family, who were then able to make it for the funeral.

Melissa Wuske is a freelance editor and writer. She and her husband, Shawn, live and minister in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts. Find her work online (melissaannewuske.com).