Brazil's humpback whales were nearly gone. Now there are 35,000 of them passing Rio de Janeiro

Happy Thursday. Today's lead story is about humpback whales in Brazil. In 1986, there were around 2,000. Today there are 35,000, and every year between June and November they pass right through Guanabara Bay on their way to breeding grounds, close enough to photograph from a boat.

We also have a 3,200-year-old tomb discovered in Luxor with preserved frescoes from the era of Ramesses II, a restaurant owner in South Carolina who found $12,000 in a cabinet and tracked down the previous owner live on television, and four orphaned bobkittens from three different California counties now in rehab together.

Dive in.

—Stephanie S

In 1986, when commercial whaling effectively ended, an estimated 2,000 humpback whales remained in the waters around Brazil. Today that number stands at 35,000 — a 27-fold increase in four decades. Every year between June and November, the whales migrate from their Antarctic feeding grounds northward through Guanabara Bay, past Rio de Janeiro, toward the Abrolhos Bank, a coral reef region spanning the coastlines of Bahia and Espírito Santo that is one of the most biodiverse stretches of the Atlantic Ocean.

The recovery has transformed what was once a story of industrial destruction into one of the most dramatic wildlife comebacks on record. Groups like the Humpback Whale Project, Amigos da Jubarte, and the Niteroi tourism agency now run whale watching programs that fill with people who have never seen anything like it. GNN has reported similar recoveries in South Africa, eastern Australia, and the Salish Sea off Seattle, where humpbacks had disappeared entirely and now number in the hundreds.

"It's wonderful," said Enrico Marcovaldi, co-founder of the Humpback Whale Project. "It shows that the whales are making a recovery, are healthy and thriving, and hopefully they'll continue to do so." André Bento, president of Niteroi's tourism agency, took a reporter out on a recent outing. "I don't think anyone who gets on this boat comes off the same way," he said.

The recovery is the direct result of the international whaling moratorium and sustained protection. What it proves is simpler than any policy document: when you stop killing something, it comes back. Read the full story.

Archaeologists from a joint Dutch-Egyptian mission have uncovered a T-shaped tomb in the Theban Necropolis at Luxor, dating to the 19th Dynasty of the New Kingdom — the Ramesside period, the era of Ramesses II, arguably ancient Egypt's greatest ruler. Inscriptions inside identify the tomb's owner as a man named Paser. The discovery was made by Carina van den Hoven, who has directed excavations at the site since 2018, while conducting the first comprehensive archaeological survey of the Lower Sheikh Abd El-Qurna area, one of the most significant burial zones in the necropolis.

The tomb's interior is remarkably preserved. Frescoes lining the walls depict Paser performing religious rites in the New Kingdom style and seated beside his wife at an offerings table. A well-preserved mudbrick bench once supported stone funerary stelae, though these are missing. The T-shaped layout and open forecourt are typical of New Kingdom tombs in the area, and the complex is expected to contain further underground burial chambers beyond Paser himself.

"Another month, another big discovery in Luxor," GNN noted — which sounds flippant but is simply true. The tomb follows major finds at the same site including 22 singing priests and priestesses in May and a trio of official tombs the year before. A study documenting the discovery is expected to shed new light on funerary culture in Lower Sheikh Abd El-Qurna and the relationships between its neighboring tombs. Read the full story.

Sak Yiengjuntuek had been clearing out old tool chests left behind by the man who sold him Lemongrass Pho & Thai Cuisine in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, when he spotted a sunglasses case tucked inside one of them. He opened it. Inside was a stack of $100 bills. Twelve thousand dollars in cash, sitting in a cabinet he was about to throw away.

He knew immediately who it belonged to. He called the previous owner's number. Disconnected. With no other way to reach him, Yiengjuntuek contacted local NBC affiliate WMBF and told his story on air, hoping the man might see it. Then something remarkable happened: while the cameras were rolling, he remembered a second number saved under a different name. He called it right there, live on television. The previous owner answered.

"I have some good news for you," Yiengjuntuek said. He later learned the man was dealing with a significant health problem, which made the timing even more meaningful. The Myrtle Beach community now knows Yiengjuntuek's name. His advice, delivered to TODAY with characteristic simplicity: "Don't give up honesty." Read the full story.

Within the space of a single week, four baby bobcats arrived at the Saratoga Wildlife Care Center in California, each from a different mother and a different part of the state. Two came from Kern County after their mother died in a fall. A third was found alone in Carmel. A fourth turned up in Concord. The Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA collected all four, cleared them of parasites, and put them on a natural meat diet in dedicated recovery facilities.

They now share a large enclosure where, according to wildlife coordinator Kinney, they are doing exactly what young bobcats are supposed to do. "They're conditioning, they're building muscle, they're learning how to pounce on things," she said. "They're very curious. We give them enrichment to keep their little bobcat brains going strong."

The goal is a return to the wild, and the team is careful not to let that change. The kittens remain wary of people, as they should, and are on track to be released as semi-adults in October. Kinney's advice if you find a mewling bobkitten somewhere unexpected: don't rush in. Call your nearest wildlife rescue first. Read the full story.

🎭 Global: A new study found that older adults who regularly visited museums, cinemas, or theaters had bodies functioning like those of significantly younger people, with one measure of biological aging ticking up to 4% more slowly in people who engaged with arts and culture at least once a week.

🌊 Global: NASA's PACE satellite captured the Black Sea turning brilliant turquoise from space during its annual summer phytoplankton bloom, as microscopic coccolithophores, whose reflective calcium carbonate shells can alter ocean color across hundreds of square miles, reached peak density.

🚀 USA: NASA has selected 41 commercial technology projects from 37 American companies to develop the power systems, dust protection, and surface infrastructure needed for a permanent human presence on the Moon and eventual crewed missions to Mars.

🐸 Global: Scientists have discovered why some frog populations survive the chytrid fungus that has devastated amphibians worldwide, finding that survivors develop powerful antimicrobial skin defenses while still tadpoles, before the fungus can attack. The study also uncovered a vast collection of previously unknown peptides that could inspire new drugs.

🩸 UK: A new AI blood test called PinPoint detected gynaecological cancers with 99% accuracy in a trial of 16,481 women across Yorkshire hospitals, correctly identifying cancers and ruling out their presence, potentially allowing earlier diagnosis without invasive testing.

On July 16, 1969, NASA's Apollo 11 lifted off from Kennedy Space Center carrying Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin toward the Moon. Four days later, Armstrong and Aldrin would land on the lunar surface while Collins orbited above. It remains the most audacious thing human beings have ever done: leave their planet, travel 240,000 miles through the void, land on another world, and come home safely. NASA's photograph of mission officials celebrating in the Launch Control Center immediately after liftoff captures something that is harder to name — the look of people who just watched a miracle they themselves built.

George Mueller, the man NASA historians call "the most brilliant and fearless manager" the agency ever had, was in that room. As head of the Office of Manned Space Flight, Mueller pushed through "all-up testing," insisted on integrated systems over piecemeal testing, and is widely credited with making the Moon landing possible within the decade Kennedy had promised. He was born on this day in 1918. The Apollo 11 mission launched on his 51st birthday. He died in 2015 at 97, having watched humans walk on the Moon six times.

Other notable July 16 events:

1966: Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, and Ginger Baker formed Cream, 60 years ago today, becoming the world's first successful supergroup. In just two years they recorded four albums and produced Sunshine of Your Love, White Room, and Crossroads, and their third album Wheels of Fire became the first platinum-selling double album in history.

1790: Washington DC was founded along the Potomac River, 236 years ago today, on land donated by Maryland. Pierre L'Enfant designed it with sweeping boulevards inspired by Paris. Benjamin Banneker, a self-taught African-American mathematical genius, provided the calculations for surveying and laying out the city.

2004: Millennium Park opened in Chicago, 22 years ago today, after Mayor Richard M. Daley invited 300,000 people to a three-day opening celebration featuring Cloud Gate, the Crown Fountain, and an inaugural concert by the Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus.

2007: The White Stripes played their shortest show ever in St. John's, Newfoundland, 19 years ago today. Jack White played a single C# note accompanied by a bass drum hit from Meg. Then he announced they had now officially performed in every province and territory in Canada, and they left the stage.

— Anatole France

Every day brings amazing advances and uplifting moments that remind us just how wonderful the world can be. Here are five reasons why today is the best time ever to be alive:

🐕 African Wild Dogs Are Coming Back: Long-term monitoring programs are documenting genuine population recoveries in African wild dog populations across southern Africa, driven by coordinated anti-poaching efforts and community conservation programs that give local communities direct economic stakes in wildlife survival.

🧬 A More Precise CRISPR: Base editing techniques can now correct single-letter mutations in DNA without cutting the double helix, enabling precise repair of the genetic errors behind thousands of inherited diseases with far fewer off-target effects than conventional CRISPR.

🔬 Ultrasound Could Heal Damaged Joints: Low-intensity pulsed ultrasound is showing early promise for regenerating damaged cartilage in joints without surgery, breaking the cycle of chronic inflammation that keeps joints trapped in progressive damage.

🌳 Trees Are Cooling Cities: Urban tree canopy programs across Europe, Asia, and North America are measurably reducing heat island temperatures by up to 12 degrees on heavily shaded streets, cutting air conditioning costs and improving health outcomes in some of the world's most densely populated areas.

💊 Printing Your Own Medicine: 3D printing technology can now produce pharmaceutical tablets with dosing precision impossible to achieve in conventional manufacturing, opening the door to personalized medication where each pill is calibrated to an individual patient's exact needs.

Spread a little good news, and good things come back your way.

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