Author | Lightnews

1440 @1440daily.bsky.social · 9h

While the zoo’s newest elephant, Tula-Tu, was too small to join the main activity, she enjoyed playing with her own smaller pumpkin, kicking it around like a little soccer ball.

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1440 @1440daily.bsky.social · 9h

This year, the pumpkins were even bigger, including one that weighed about 1,000 pounds, provided by the Pacific Giant Vegetable Growers Club. Elephant overseer Steve Lefave explained that the elephants first stomped on the pumpkins to squash them, then happily munched on the tasty treat.

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1440 @1440daily.bsky.social · 9h

Elephants at the Oregon Zoo enjoyed their annual fall enrichment activity by crushing and eating giant pumpkins in front of an excited crowd. The event, called the "Squishing of the Squash," has been a zoo tradition since 1999 when a huge 828-pound pumpkin was first donated to the elephants.🧵

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1440 @1440daily.bsky.social · 15h

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1440 @1440daily.bsky.social · 15h

Many plasma donors are people in need of money, like students or low-income workers, who rely on the payments to get by. While plasma donations help save lives and create important medicines, donating often may lower a person’s immune system and health.

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1440 @1440daily.bsky.social · 15h

Unlike whole blood, which spoils quickly, plasma lasts much longer and can be donated more often because the body replaces it fast. This innovation led to the growth of a huge plasma industry, now worth $45 billion, where people can get paid for donating plasma.

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1440 @1440daily.bsky.social · 15h

In the 1930s, Dr. Charles Drew made a huge medical breakthrough by figuring out how to separate and store blood plasma. This discovery made it easier to ship plasma worldwide, saving millions of lives, especially during World War II. 🧵

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1440 @1440daily.bsky.social · 17h

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1440 @1440daily.bsky.social · 17h

She started ballet at age 13. She maked history in 2015 as ABT’s first Black female principal dancer. Now retiring after 25 years with the company, she plans to keep working to promote diversity in dance and continue her career as an author.

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1440 @1440daily.bsky.social · 17h

At 43, she danced one last time at a special gala in New York’s Lincoln Center, celebrated by stars like Oprah Winfrey. During her farewell, she performed some of her favorite roles and was surrounded by friends, family, and fellow dancers who honored her with hugs, flowers, and glittery confetti.

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1440 @1440daily.bsky.social · 17h

Misty Copeland, the first Black female principal dancer at American Ballet Theatre (ABT), took her final bow on the ballet stage. 🧵