Neat News - Neat things do happen

In a study it was found that adding some extra space between letters increases the reading speed of dyslexic children by 13 percent and of non-dyslexic children by 5 percent.

related: #spacing #readability

The Right Livelihood Awards 2021 were awarded to three persons and one organization for the fight for climate and justice. The prizes go to Marthe Wandou (Cameroon, child protection against sexual violence and for women's rights), Vladimir Sliwjak (Russia, fight for environmental issues), Freda Huson (Canada, fight for the rights of indigenous peoples), and LIFE (Legal Initiative for Forest and Environment, India, for legal support in empowering people action against pollution).

related: #Right_Livelihood_Award

In a study with almost 9000 children in 50 schools it was found that children who eat a lot of fruit and vegetables have a better mental wellbeing. Those who consumed five or more portions of fruit and veg a day had the highest scores for mental wellbeing.

related: #fruit #veg #mental_wellbeing

Bees can sting elephants and scare them off when they swarm. In order to protect elephants, in southern Kenya an approach is taken to shield farmland from foraging elephants by a so-called bee fence. When the elephants set off the bees they swarm and the elephants avoid the farmland behind the fence.

related: #bee_fence #elephant

The Familial Forestry, a project of planting and nurturing trees has won this year's Land for Life Award from the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. In the project millions of trees were not only planted in Rajastan, one of India's driest regions, but also nurtured as family member. Trees retain humidity and provide shade and fruit.

related: #Trees #Desertification

To avoid catastrophic climate change CO₂ submissions must be reduced with the goal of a carbon neutral future. A new study stresses that in this keeping and using existing fuel-efficient cars can actually reduce CO₂ emissions more than making a fast transition to alternative fuel vehicles.

related: #vehicles #climate_neutrality

Today there are protests at 1400 events in 80 countries as part of the Fridays for Future movement. The protesters demand urgent action against an imminent climate catastrophe, which they say is not taken seriously enough by political parties and society as a whole.

related: #climate_crisis #Fridays_for_Future

In animal tests, an immune therapy that can be applied as a nasal spray showed a lot of promise in treating and even preventing a Covid-19 infection. The therapy is based on the antibodies that a llama produced in reaction to a non-infectious piece of the SARS-CoV-2 protein.

related: #nose #therapy #Covid19

The MIND diet does not only reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer's Disease, it also reduces or eliminates the consequences of Alzheimer's in the sense that people who developed plaques in the brain did not show signs of dementia. The MIND diet is a combination of the DASH diet (against hypertension) and the Mediterranean diet, recommending, for instance, whole grain, vegetables, fish, and olive oil, but discouraging butter, red meat, sweets, cheese, and fast food.

related: MIND_diet #Alzheimer

200,000 year old hand- and footprints seem to be some of the earliest evidence of human art. The prints were found recently in a place some 4000 metres above sea level in the Tibetan Plateau. Their size indicates that they were left by children.

related: #ancient_art

A new approach has been developed by which a single brain scan is used to predict a person's risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, many years before any cognitive decline starts showing.

related: #Alzheimer

Music can have a therapeutic effect on the heart's health and has recently become more prevalent as a complement to traditional therapy, for instance, in order to better cope with stress.

related: #music_therapy #heart

Former hurricane Larry brought a snow storm with nearly 10 billion tons of extra snow to Greenland, compensating for part of the about 532 billion tons of ice lost in 2019.

related: #snow #Greenland

Scientists try currently to learn from fruit flies with cancer what exactly kills them. The research may lead to an understanding how to prolong the lives of cancer patients by suppressing dangerous chemicals generated by the cancer cells.

related: #cancer

The first barrier against Covid-19 before it can travel down to the lungs is the nose. Now a nasal vaccine against the Covid-19 virus is in development that can provide a non-invasive intranasal vaccination. The new vaccine could supplement existing intramuscular vaccines.

related: #Covid19 #nasal_vaccine

There are about one billion cattle worldwide and each produces tens of litres of urine per day, causing pollution such as greenhouse gases. In a test, researchers succeeded in training calves to use a water closet.

related: #cattle #potty_training

The Instituto Terra in Brazil has recovered more than 600 hectares of Atlantic Forest. The trees are planted one by one in a well balanced mixture of species, since the rain forest will not return by itself, but at one point nature will take over. The new forest attracts cool air and humidity.

related: #rain_forest #Instituto_Terra

There are now low cost solar modules that can be installed for instance on a balcony and simply plugged into a socket. This way they can generate 600 watts each and cover some of the energy needs of the household, for instance, providing electricity for the fridge or dishwasher.

related: #plug_and_play #solar_panel

A new study has found that standing up regularly (rather than sitting for too long) is linked to higher insulin sensitivity and may prevent chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.

related: #standing #insulin

People often complain of not having enough free time. A new study found that also having too much free time is detrimental to the well-being unless it is filled with productive activities such as working out or hobbies.

related: #productive_activity #well-being

Yesterday the Ig Nobel Prizes 2021 were awarded. They "are intended to celebrate the unusual, honor the imaginative — and spur people's interest in science, medicine, and technology." One prize in transportation was given for a study how best to transport a rhino through the air: upside down is better than lying chest down or on the side.

related: #rhino #transportation #upside_down

Humans are very adaptive and able to fine tune their movements in order not to spill anything when walking with a full cup of coffee. Now there is a better understanding of the movements in this balancing act. The findings may be used to design better prosthetics.

related: #human_movement #prosthetics

In experiments with mice, researchers found that during the rapid eye movement (REM) phase of sleep, important nutrient delivery and waste removal takes place in the brain. The findings may be important in finding treatments when the waste removal is disturbed, for instance, in patients with Alzheimer's disease.

related: #sleep #dream #brain_health

A hobby archaeologist found a 1500 year old hold hoard in Denmark. It is with a weight of almost one kilogram considered to be one of the biggest and most beautiful treasures in Danish history. It is planned to show it in Veijle museum from February 2022.

related: #Denmark #gold_hoard

A three year old boy went missing for four days in a rural part of New South Wales, Australia, and everybody was very worried about his wellbeing. Apart from a few scratches he was found now alive and well by a search helicopter in a creek providing water, close to the family home.

related: #saved

The Siberian tiger is the biggest cat, and as tigers in general is on the list of endangered animals. However, recently, there is good news as the number of animals is increasing due to strict protection.

related: #Siberian_tiger

Not long ago many tuna stocks were on the edge of extinction. Now a recent tally shows that many stocks have recovered after a decade of conservation. Still there are continuing pressures on our oceans and more conservation efforts are necessary in order to protect biodiversity.

related: #tuna_conservation

12 years after the collapse of the old city archive in Cologne, the new building has been inaugurated today with artifacts from the 2000 year old history of the city. In a big effort it was possible to recover 95 percent of the content.

related: #city_archive #Cologne

There are new ideas how to generate electricity. In new research, a modification of a wooden floor has been developed so that the material can harvest electricity from the steps that people do on it.

related: #electricity_generation #wooden_floor

A study with couples in distress - with some of them having to wait for six months before the counselling started - found that the step to agree to seek help improves the general situation, but the counselling itself goes a good deal further.

related: #distress #counselling