With wars, bombings, ecological threats and celebrities and royalties’ drama, it seems that recently we are seeing more and more bad news. It’s understandable if it is a lot to deal with at once and everyone needs some good news every now and again. So, here is a collection of good news from around the world.
In the United Kingdom’s city of Liverpool, there is a plan to build a multibillion-dollar dam between the Irish Sea and a tidal basin. This dam is planned to generate clean, hydroelectric power to an estimated 1 million houses, essentially the whole city of Liverpool, for 120 years. The plan is currently in stage three of concept development and is about to enter the formal planning stage. Along with the clean energy this dam would provide for the entire city, the top of the dam would also act as a causeway including green spaces and bike paths. It would act as a pathway between Liverpool and the Wirral Peninsula.
Jumping to eastern Europe now, a group of scientists have been using worms found around Chernobyl to better understand cancer in humans. It has been widely known that multiple different kinds of animals and life have come back or stayed in the exclusion zone around the now-abandoned city, regardless of the radiation damage. Specifically, researchers have found that certain kinds of worms have lived there without any radiation damage to their genomes. The idea was then raised that humans could study these worms, who go through evolution in seconds, to find out why some humans have a genetic predisposition to getting cancer while some do not. After capturing a few different samples of these worms, they were transported home to New York where they were studied closer. The researchers were then surprised to find out there was no radiation damage to the worms. The team then created a system to generate the next few generations of these worms to see how well they can withstand radiation damage. After seeing that they all took the radiation the same, they were able to determine that the location has no effect on the amount of radiation one can take compared to another. This all enables these scientists to look into the different strains of worms and see which are more sensitive to DNA damage compared to others. In turn, this can then be applied to humans, and we will potentially be able to determine the causes and risk factors of each individual to best avoid getting cancer.
Jumping again, this time to the Japanese city of Kyoto, where the city has passed a new law to help protect one of their most culturally significant groups. The geisha are Japanese women who practice traditional activities like signing, playing instruments and serving tea to guests. They are entertainers, and being in one of the most visited cities in Japan they are no strangers to being photographed without permission and even harassed to get a picture. To combat this, the city has passed a new law invoking a fine of around $67 USD for any unsolicited photo taken in the city. This has mainly been enforced by the citizens of the city in a citizen’s arrest when they witness a situation going down.
From new efforts into a cleaner earth, to steps forward in cancer research and new laws protecting human rights, hopefully this has helped reveal a brighter side to the news and your day.
