Neat News - Neat things do happen

Since the early 1920s lead has been added to petrol to enhance its performance, but the lead also made the fuel toxic, contaminating air, soil, and water. Since the 1970s more and more countries have banned it. In July 2021, also Algeria as the last country has stopped using leaded petrol.

related: #lead #petrol

In order to cut accidents and reduce pollution, a new speed of 30 km/h is in force from today in most of Paris.

related: #speed_limit #Paris

New research finds that the immune system of a child is much more active in several ways than that of an adult. For instance, a child does not only have many more immune cells but they can also react much faster to a virus by producing type-1 interferons. This is so in case of Covid-19, but seems to be so also more universally.

related: #immune_system #interferon

In the north of Greenland researchers found a new island. When they tried to land on Oodaaq, the island assumed until then to be the northern most island, they actually landed on an island some 800 metres further up north. The new island, provisionally named Qeqertaq Avannerleq, is just 30 times 60 metres big.

related: #northern_most_island #Greenland

Archaeologists found from human remains of the Herculaneum volcano eruption in the year 79 that men and women seem to have had different diets. For instance, men got their proteins to 50 percent more from seafood and some more from cereals, whereas women more from animal products and locally grown fruits and vegetables.

related: #diet #Herculaneum

In different lines of research it has been investigated whether Covid-19 vaccines harm fertility or sexual function as claimed by some. No such indication has been found. However, Covid-19 infections clearly do.

related: #Covid19 #fertility

New research indicates that staying well hydrated throughout life can reduce the risk of heart failure. As daily water intake, 1.6 to 2.1 litres are recommended for women and 2 to 3 litres for men.

related: #hydration #heart_failure

While there are lot of individual difference, new model based research indicates that when training muscles new proteins are generated following a trigger that drops off quickly when the load on the muscle is much below 70 percent, on the one hand. On the other hand, if the load is much above 70 percent the muscle will exhaust rapidly with little gain.

related: #muscle_growth

In a 108 day long computation the mathematical constant π has been computed to an unprecedented precision of 62.8 trillion positions. More interesting than the result itself is the achievement to use supercomputers without glitches over such a time period.

related: #pi #supercomputer

Glioblastoma, the most aggressive type of brain cancer, can only be inadequately treated by drugs. In order to optimize the drugs used, a new promising method has been developed, in which using the patient's own cells, a three model of the tumour is printed and different potential treatments are tested for efficacy before the actual treatment is started.

related: #brain_cancer #3D_model

Using a novel artificial intelligence method, it is possible to spot patterns of fragmentation of DNA in the bloodstream related to lung cancer cells and detect 90 percent of lung cancers this way.

related: #lung_cancer #blood_test

As new research has found, rattlesnakes have a way to make it sound as if they were nearer than they actually are by switching to a much higher frequency. It is assumed that they do this in order to avoid being trampled on.

related: #rattlesnake #sound_trick

Curlews are rare wading birds in Europe. Now some eighty reared curlews were released in the wild in Norfolk. As research indicates the reared ones are acting like their wild counterparts and mixing with them.

related: #curlew

In 1987 a worldwide ban on chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) was passed in the Montreal Protocol. It not only saved the ozone layer, but as a simulation has now found out had also a big effect on global warming. Without the ban the global air temperatures would rise by an additional 2.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century.

related: #CFC_ban

Using so-called nanoclusters, it was possible to make much better use of palladium in building catalysts. Palladium is one of the rare materials necessary to build catalysts, which play a very important role in many chemical processes.

related: #catalyst #palladium

The US government plans to make strong moves on climate regulations for cars and to target 50 percent of new cars to be electric by 2030.

related: #electric_cars

The small village Sprakebüll in the north of Germany with 260 inhabitants has converted to renewable energy. It shows the way to many more communities by making use of wind and solar energy also to produce hydrogen by electrolysis. The renewable energy sources make up for a declining agriculture and provide prosperity.

related: #renewable

Fish fins are strong and flexible at the same time. New research starts to understand why. In each fin there are 20 to 30 rays that can be manipulated separately just as fingers. The insights may have applications such as in new aeroplane wing design.

related: #fish_fins

Currently the Perseids meteor shower, arguably the most popular meteor shower of the year, is currently visible, best in the Northern Hemisphere.

related: #Perseids #meteor_shower

In experiments with mice, for some types of solid cancerous tumours their growth was significantly slowed down using a combination of immunotherapy with CAR T cells and ultrasound treatment. The ultrasound is used to direct the CAR T cells to the cancer cells.

related: #cancer #immunotherapy #ultrasound

More and more apple farmers in south Germany participate in putting yellow ribbons in trees to indicate that anybody is free to take apples from these tree.

related: #apple

In 2009 beavers were reintroduced in Scotland and in 2019 legislation was passed to protect them. The measures have been very successful and the number of beaver has doubled to 1000 in three years. Beavers play an important role in creating and restoring wetlands.

related: #beaver #Scotland

Amaranth is a seed that has been cultivated for 8000 years in the Americas as an excellent source of proteins. It has gained new popularity because of its amino acids and antioxidants. It may play an increasing role in feeding the world.

related: #amaranth #health_food

In experiments with mice it has been found that photo-biomodulation therapy, a form of light therapy, activates a protein that controls cell growth. This results in a better recovery from burns and reduced inflammation.

related: #light_therapy

A new study finds that physical activity has two benefits in case of depression. First, it reduces depressive symptoms; second, it enables the brain to change in order to overcome the depression.

related: #physical_activity #depression

In many regions people want to cool rooms during hot summer days. Rather than installing a separate cooling system, it is possible to install a heat pump that can be used in two ways, cooling the house by pumping the heat to the outside on hot days, and warming the house by pumping warmth to the inside on cold days.

related: #air_conditioning #heat_pump

A 3700 year old clay tablet seems to contain the oldest known document containing applied geometry. The Babylonian tablet was discovered at the end of the 19th century in today's Iraq, but its importance has been revealed only recently. It is about splitting land in a sale and makes use of Pythagoras' theorem.

related: #Babylon #geometry

No public school student in California has to go hungry to school from this autumn, since the State of California will offer free meals to all public school students, regardless of the family income.

related: #school_meals #California

From 2022 a method will allow to produce car tyres from recycled PET bottles. Around 60 such bottles are assumed to be necessary for a set of four tyres.

related: #recycled_plastic_bottle #tyre

A new book describes on a scientific basis how education can help to raise a generation of generous and kind anti-racists. It works more by addressing the issues and explaining how actions affect others than by trying to hide the issues.

related: #education #kindness

A new therapy based on non-thermal radio waves has been developed that can be used also against the most common type of liver cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma. The therapy proved effective in more than 30 percent of patients, in a recent study.

related: #liver_cancer radio_therapy