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Megan Kelley

When Abigail peeks out from her perch — a wooden platform dangling high in a tree on a mountain ridge in West Virginia — she sees a nearly picture-perfect landscape.

She points out roaming farm animals and watches cars drive the few country roads that border the Jefferson National Forest. "The sunsets are incredible," Abigail describes. "And it’s pretty peaceful when the winds aren’t too strong."

[rebelmouse-image 19532530 dam="1" original_size="800x600" caption="The view from Abigail's tree platform. Photo courtesy of Appalachians Against Pipelines." expand=1]The view from Abigail's tree platform. Photo courtesy of Appalachians Against Pipelines.

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Disneynature's Born In China

On Sept. 4, 2016, the conservation status of giant pandas was updated from "endangered" to the less critical "vulnerable." That's great news!

After all, who wouldn't want to see more of these fluffy little faces in the world?‌‌

The announcement, made by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, came after a documented 17% rise in the wild panda population over about the last decade.

"The recovery of the panda shows that when science, political will and engagement of local communities come together, we can save wildlife and also improve biodiversity," stated Marco Lambertini, the director general of World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

The public's reaction to an increase in baby pandas? "Awwwwwww."

GIF via Disneynature's "Born in China."

But there's someone else behind the scenes of these cute baby pandas and all the conservation efforts: the mother bears.

Panda cubs at breeding centers and zoos get a lot of help from their human caretakers. But for pandas in the wild, a strong mother-cub relationship is necessary for survival. Without it, all the international efforts to save the species would have no effect.

Here are a few things that make the mother-cub bond in pandas so special:

When baby pandas are born, they're about 1/900th of their mother's weight.‌

A newborn panda in an incubator. Image via iStock.‌

Newborn panda cubs average 3.5 ounces — about the size of a stick of butter. Yes, a stick of butter! They don't open their eyes for up to two months, and they're basically immobile for three.

Panda biologist Dr. David Kersey, an associate professor at Western University of Health Sciences, explains in an email, "Among mammals with placentas, the giant panda cub is the smallest offspring compared to the mother."

A young panda cub. Image via Disneynature's "Born in China."

Because they're born so early, wild panda cubs spend up to two years with just their mothers.

Newborn pandas are altricial, which means they're essentially helpless. For the first couple of weeks, Kersey writes, the mother rarely ventures outside the den, "spending nearly every waking moment rearing and nursing the cub." During this time, "she relies solely on energy reserves to sustain herself and milk production."

Even as the cub ages and the mother returns to foraging, it still relies on her for warmth, protection, food, and more.

Giant pandas don't live in groups and the males never stick around after mating, so the cubs spend time exclusively with their mother until they reach independence. For two years, the pair does everything together; every day is a lesson in survival.

By the time a wild panda cub leaves its mother, it has all the skills and knowledge it needs to survive on its own.

At around 14 months, cubs begin eating bamboo on their own. Between 18 and 24 months, they wean from the mother and the pair separates.

A mother panda and her cub. Image via Disneynature's "Born in China."

Giant pandas are still a vulnerable species, but their numbers are improving.

The WWF estimates that there are about 1,864 pandas left in the wild, spread across 20 or so pockets of bamboo forest. The species' biggest threat is habitat loss due to development in the region and climate change.

Image via Disneynature's "Born in China."

Despite their low numbers, the progress that pandas have made over the past decade is a great sign for the future.

But as Kersey writes: "Our work is certainly not done. The protections and efforts afforded to the giant panda while it was endangered helped in improving the species’ numbers." The future of the giant panda shouldn't have to rest solely on those mother bears. The species is going to need our help, too.

Want to learn more about these amazing animals? See "Born in China" during opening week and Disneynature will make a donation in your honor to the World Wildlife Fund to benefit wild pandas and other threatened species.

Watch the "Born in China" video here:

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Behind the scenes with a dad who gained internet fame tweeting about his 4 daughters.

When it comes to capturing the humor of parenting, James Breakwell is a pro.

James Breakwell has four daughters between the ages of 1 and 6, well over half a million Twitter followers, and an unfailing sense of humor.

James with three of his daughters. Image via James Breakwell, used with permission.

Known on Facebook and Twitter as Exploding Unicorn, Breakwell has been sharing his and his wife's parenting adventures with the world since 2012. He writes about the joys and sorrows of fathering four girls, proving that humor can be found in even the smallest moments.

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Heroes

A 13-year-old girl invented a bandage to help wounds heal faster.

Parents and judges told her it was impossible, but she didn't listen.

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UCLA

Anushka Naiknaware may only be 13 years old, but she just invented a bandage that could help patients with chronic wounds heal faster.

The eighth-grader from Portland, Oregon, created a bandage that senses moisture in a wound dressing. "A lot of people don't immediately relate moisture to wounds," she explained, "but the truth is that moisture is one of the key determining factors in how fast a chronic wound heals."

Naiknaware in front of a previous science fair presentation. All images via ​Rekha Naiknaware​, used with permission.

Why does moisture matter? Well, many open wounds need to be kept moist to promote healing; but if a wound is too wet, that can be a sign of infection. Simply put: Keeping the wound in a healthy moisture range helps it heal faster.

Naiknaware's bandage allows a doctor to monitor the status of the wound (without having to unwrap the dressing) and address issues accordingly. The bandage is intended to be used on patients with chronic wounds, which are common in elderly patients and folks with diabetes and usually take three months or longer to heal.

Ravleen Kaur from the Beaverton Valley Times reported that the bandage may even have implications for the military, "helping injured soldiers in a rapid and cost-effective manner."

Naiknaware's creation won the Lego Education Builder Award at the 2016 Google Science Fair. Heads up: That's a pretty big deal.

It's a prize that comes with $15,000, a trip to Denmark, and a one-year mentorship with Lego to help get the project into production.

Naiknaware after winning her award at the Google Science Fair.

The project all started when Naiknaware was 3 or 4 years old and her parents would take her to a local science museum. She loved all the exhibits there (particularly chemistry) and over the years her interest in science blossomed.

"There's a natural progression from one field to another," she said. "After you learn math and chemistry, you can do biology, physics, computer science, anything. It just keeps building and there’s no real end to it."

Naiknaware's love of the science museum fueled an interest in nanoparticles (which she began researching in fourth grade). Eventually, this research became the foundation of her submission to the Google Science Fair.

A budding scientist.

"I actually created an ink out of nanoparticles and filled that into a normal inkjet cartridge," Naiknaware explained. "This allowed me to print out a conductive circuit." After hooking that circuit up to a small battery and passing a current through it, she could measure the resistance and get a reading of the moisture content.

The success of Naiknaware's invention is huge. But throughout her process, she was no stranger to failure.

She had particular difficulty perfecting the ink circuit. "How many times did my ink fail? 40 times? 50 times? Quite a few." She also mentioned a few jammed up printers in the garage.

Naiknaware's wound dressing presentation.

On top of that, Naiknaware encountered her fair share of discouragement from adults. "When I started doing things with nanoparticles," she recalled, "a lot of people — parents, judges — told me, 'What you're doing is impossible. It's not going to work.'"

But she knew that her theory worked on paper. She had confidence in her own idea and a few encouraging mentors on her side — including her sixth grade science teacher, Ms. Svenson.

After her experience with the bandage, Naiknaware's advice to other passionate kids interested in science is simple: "Just because people say your idea won't work, doesn't mean you can't prove them wrong."

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