Brightening up the day with a global round-up of positive news nuggets.
Link Established
By comparing the bacteria found in fruits and vegetables to those found in the human gut, researchers have demonstrated, for the first time, that consuming fruits and vegetables contributes positively to the bacterial diversity of our gut microbiome. Bacterial diversity in the gut plays an important role in health. The human microbiome has featured prominently in research, with links being made between it and cancer, personality, memory, and diseases such as diabetes and multiple sclerosis.
Best Foods for a Healthy Gut: Professor Tim Spector, the King’s College London epidemiologist celebrated for his work on diet and the microbiome, advises on the best eight foods for a healthy gut. Read on...
Banana Sari
In a remarkable fusion of tradition and innovation, a couple of Marma women and Manipuri men have taken the Bangladeshi fashion scene by storm with their unique creation: a sari woven entirely from banana fiber. While this may not be a unique concept in the global context, it marks an exciting shift in the fashion landscape of Bangladesh, bringing environmental consciousness to the forefront.
Meteoric Rise
The number of electric cars will jump almost tenfold by the end of the decade as China continues to drive both production and adoption. A new report from the IEA has predicted there will be roughly 220 million electric passenger vehicles on the road by 2030, up from 26 million in 2022, fuelling what it described as an “unstoppable” shift to net zero. Fatih Birol, the IEA’s executive director, said: “The transition to clean energy is happening worldwide and it’s unstoppable. It’s not a question of ‘if’, it’s just a matter of ‘how soon’ - and the sooner the better for all of us.”
Rock Faces
Human faces sculpted into stone up to 2,000 years ago have appeared on a rocky outcropping along the Amazon River after the water levels dropped. Some rock engravings had been discovered before, but now there is a greater variety that will help researchers establish their origins, archaeologist Jaime de Santana Oliveira says. One area shows smooth grooves in the rock thought to be where Indigenous inhabitants once sharpened their arrows and spears long before Europeans arrived.
SA Education
Some good news from South Africa: SA News reports that the proportion of people over the age of 20 years with no formal education fell from 19% in 1996 to 7% in 2022. During the same period, the proportion of people completing high school rose from 16% to 37%, and those completing tertiary education rose from 7% to 12%.
Rare Leave Type
Thanks to a new law, California will now guarantee time off work following a miscarriage or other reproductive loss, including failed adoption, in-vitro fertilization, or surrogacy, reports Bloomberg. This new law ensures leave for grieving and recovering would-be parents and passed with largely bipartisan support. The law, which takes effect 1 January 2024, doesn’t require that the leave be paid, but it does ban employers from retaliating against workers who take the time off. California is the second state with a law explicitly granting reproductive loss leave for private-sector workers. Illinois enacted a similar measure last year. “We speak of California contagion all the time,” said a local attorney. “Now that California has passed this law and put in place a framework, I do think other states are going to pick up the framework and adopt it.”
Transformational
The Bionics Institute of Australia and Center for Bionics and Pain Research have partnered to create a new technique aimed at improving the lives of amputees. The novel technology fuses the bionic arm to the user’s skeleton and nervous system by implanting electrodes into their nerves and muscles, says EuroNews. The implant acts as a permanent anchor for the prosthetic, which can then be easily attached and removed. The outcomes are remarkable: decreased pain and better control of the prosthetic. Amazingly, it can allow users to carry out about 80 percent of their daily activities.
"How pleasant is the day when we give up striving to be young - or slender." William James
On This Day
26 October 1825: After some eight years of construction, the Erie Canal, which connects the Great Lakes with New York City via the Hudson River at Albany, officially opened; its success propelled NYC into a major commercial centre and encouraged canal construction throughout the United States.
Schoolboy invents 'smart spoon' for trembling hands, hailed as the difference between dignity and indignity. Clever...
It's not just us! A recent study has found that the joy of laughter is actually quite common in the animal kingdom too. It's good to laugh...
Mood Booster
Laurel and Hardy dancing to Michael Jackson's Billie Jean.
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