Neat News - Neat things do happen

In Bangladesh, gardens are often flooded in flood seasons. Now floating gardens are built on rafts that rise and fall with the waters as a sustainable solution to the increasingly problematic flooding problem.

related: #floating_garden

Exercising for at least 30 minutes per day can lower the blood pressure and have a comparable effect to medication. In a new meta-study it has been analyzed how the kind of exercises - aerobic endurance training versus resistance training - can be personally optimized according to the level of the hypertension.

related: #hypertension #exercising

In the Soviet Union Russian dandelions were used to produce rubber tyres during World War II. Due to environmental concerns dandelions may now make a comeback for rubber production. They are closer to where the rubber is needed, sustainable, and offer an alternative to the South American rubber tree.

related: #rubber #dandelion

In western societies it is often argued that switching to renewable energies would cost jobs. A study finds now that with taking an ambitious plan towards a net zero target for CO₂ emissions in order to achieve the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, the opposite is the case and that jobs will be created.

related: #renewable_energy #job_creation

After a big power outage in Colorado it was possible to restart the power grid from batteries - mainly to power up control computers - and solar and wind installations. This shows that an electric power grid can be restarted using renewable energies after a blackout without bringing in external power.

related: #renewable_energy #resilience

A longitudinal clinical study found that cholinesterase inhibitors are effective against Alzheimer's disease. They slow cognitive decline over five years and lower mortality by 27 percent.

related: #Alzheimer #cholinesterase_inhibitor

In a study it was found that vaccinating health care workers had the effect of reducing Covid-19 cases and the need for quarantines by more than 90 percent. This way health care workers were available when needed most in the pandemic.

related: #Covid19 #vaccination

Scientists have built an infrared LED and infrared detector composed of calcium, silicon, and oxygen, avoiding toxic and more expensive cadmium and tellurium.

related: #non_toxic #LED

Evaluating data from the Large Hadron Collider of CERN, physicists found that in an experiment in which some quarks should have decayed into as many electrons as muons, actually more electrons were produced than the so-called Standard Model predicted. This hints to the possibility that the standard model of physics needs adjustments.

related: #Standard_Model #CERN #decay

The brain contains excitatory and inhibitory neurons. In the hippocampus the inhibitory ones make 20 to 30 percent. In a model it has been found now that the structure is typically very robust and self-organizing in a range between 10 and 90 percent. The insight may help in a better understanding of conditions such as epilepsy and autism

related: #neuron #self_organization

Researchers have found a good animal model for Alzheimer's disease in macaques. Macaques are better suited than rodents since they have - like humans - two forms of the tau protein in their brains. The new insight gives better chances for developing medication against Alzheimer's.

related: #animal_model #Alzheimer

A recent study shows that greenhouses can be built using see-through solar panels. These generate electricity without any significant reduction in plant growth.

related: #solar #greenhouse

When you are tired and take a microbreak, for instance, for five minutes, then this helps you to engage with your work better throughout the day, a new study found.

related: #microbreak #work_efficiency

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas. Feeding some seaweed to cows can reduce the amount of methane that the cows blow in the air by 82 percent. This is due to a changed digestion process.

related: #seaweed #methane #cow

A new type of windfarms has been developed in which there are no rotating blades but where the turbine is a curve-topped cylinder fixed vertically with an elastic rod. It wobbles in the wind and the corresponding energy is transformed into electricity. The turbines need less space and are less dangerous for birds.

related: #windfarm #bladeless_wind_turbine

Food scraps typically rot and end up as methane gas, a powerful greenhouse gas that is very damaging in the fight against global warming. However, using these food scraps to make jet fuel offers a huge potential to cut greenhouse gas emissions of aeroplanes towards net-zero emissions.

related: #sustainability #methane #jet_fuel

In a study it has been found that if the amount of free fatty acids in the blood is increased that then the excess energy cannot be stored and that this is an early sign of diabetes type 2. This means also that if detected early a change in lifestyle could prevent the progression of the disease.

related: #diabetes #fat #lifestyle

When filtering water with membranes, solutes in the water stick to them making them dirty. This reduces their performance. Now computational simulations are used to find membrane surfaces that repel a wide range of solute types, making the membranes more efficient.

related: #water_purification #membrane

A new study found that people with high emotional intelligence, that is, people who are good at recognizing their own emotions and those of others, are also good at detecting fake news.

related: #emotional_intelligence #fake_news

In 1901, a 2000 year old device was found in a shipwreck that is thought to have been used to compute astronomical events such as eclipses. Using modern computers now a 3D computer model of the device has been built giving understanding how this early mechanical computer worked.

related: #Antikythera_mechanism #ancient_computer

In Switzerland, making renewable sources for electricity to the default option meant that around 80 percent of the customers stayed with that option although it meant that they have to pay more, partly because it is felt too big an effort to switch to cheaper fossil fuels. Following the Swiss example could have a big global impact on reducing CO₂ emissions.

related: #renewable_energy #climate #consumer_choice

There is a new plan by the government of the German state of Berlin that from 2023 onward every new house in Berlin must have a photovoltaic installation on its roof.

related: #photovoltaic #Berlin

A new study found that compounds contained in green and black tea can relax blood vessels by activating certain proteins. As a consequence the blood pressure can be lowered. The insight may result in new drugs for lowering blood pressure.

related: #tea #blood_pressure

In the USA, the energy storage systems were extended by 2.2 GWh in the last three months of 2020. That is an increase by more than 180 percent compared to the quarter before. This storage allows to make better use of renewable energy, which must be stored for times when there is no sun and no wind.

related: #renewable_energy #energy_storage

Using a computer simulation and functional MRI brain scans, researchers found that for humans who are good at solving complex problems it is not only important to know what possibly might work, but often it is even more important to know what does not work, in particular when there is no good knowledge what might work.

related: #problem_solving

Glial cells, that is, non-neural cells in the nervous system have been reprogrammed to become neural cells. In the long run, this technique may offer a new approach for functional recovery after a spinal cord injury.

related: #spinal_recovery

A drug previously approved for treating epilepsy, Ezogabine, seems to be effective as an antidepressant as well. It offers a new approach and may help patients who are not adequately treated with previous therapeutics.

related: #antidepressant

A study in the USA with almost 13,000 persons over 50 found that people with a high life satisfaction have a reduced risk of mortality and depression. They are more likely to be physically active and are psychologically better off.

related: #life_satisfaction #health

Tinnitus, permanent ringing noises in the ears, is difficult to treat. As has been found out, electrical stimulation of nerves such as a gentle electrical stimulation of the tongue can help.

related: #tinnitus #tongue

Five a day is a recommendation for a healthy lifestyle. Now a study with two million adults seems to indicate that health benefits are maximized with two fruit and three vegetable servings per day.

related: #Five_a_day #fruit #vegetable

When children (or other people) watch TV programmes with the subtitles switched on, then they significantly improve their reading skills.

related: #subtitle #reading_skill