In today's Good News, two very different animals — the elephant and the African giant pouched rat — offer protection in their own ways. A group of pachyderms came together to guard younger members of their herd during an earthquake in Southern California, while Ronin the rat saves countless lives by sniffing out landmines in Cambodia.

Catherine Garcia
The Week Digital

Time is precious in emergency trauma situations, and a new injectable treatment could stop internal bleeding quickly to stabilize patients. Maithili Joshi, a Harvard bioengineering Ph.D. candidate, has developed a peptide that binds to platelets and accelerates clotting. The treatment does not affect normal blood function, and in preclinical models it was found to reduce blood loss by up to 90%. This could change "uncontrollable hemorrhage from a fatal emergency to a survivable injury," said Joshi.

An African giant pouched rat named Ronin is being celebrated for sniffing out 109 landmines and 15 undetonated explosives in Cambodia over the last three years. Ronin is the nonprofit APOPO's most successful mine detection rat. He honed his skills during positive reinforcement training and is "not just an asset," said his handler, Phanny. "He's a valued partner and colleague." Ronin is expected to keep working for two more years before retiring.

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After 500 visits to Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool, England, registered therapy dog Holly is hanging up her leash. The Labrador retriever is retiring after eight years as the hospital's Cuddle Manager, having provided comfort to tens of thousands of patients and their families. To celebrate her service, hospital staff threw Holly a retirement party on April 15, showering her with praise and plenty of treats.

When a magnitude 5.2 earthquake hit Southern California on Tuesday, three adult African elephants at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park were filmed immediately rushing to protect the younger elephants. Khosi, Ndlula and Umngani were engaged in an "alert circle," a "defensive behavior" used in the wild to shield the youngest members of the herd, the Los Angeles Times said. This "moving display" of connectedness lasted about four minutes, until the elephants determined they were no longer in danger.

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has detected a possible signature of life on planet K2-18b

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