We live in a time when it has never been easier than accessing informationand yet, it has never been so difficult to get information, given the increasing multiplication of sources of information, sometimes entering into contradiction with each other. If for many, the traditional media remain a window to the outside, many are those who criticize their point of view could be biased, or put too much emphasis on the same issues.. An artist then had an idea: that of drawing the news, with the aim of reporting the good deeds happening on our planet. On his Instagram account, unnewscessary, the artist publishes various illustrations highlighting positive initiatives and discoveries around the globe, to make them more memorable. Here is a selection of some of his recently released works.
1) Airbnb users book $2 million worth of Ukrainian rooms in bid to offer help
Generous people all over the world are joining the Ukrainians in booking Airbnb rooms without intending to stay there. According to Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky, this unique initiative is helping to get Ukrainians the funds they desperately need. The CEO said last week on Twitter: “In 48 hours, 61,406 nights have been booked in Ukraine. That’s $1.9 million going to guests in need.”
2) In Canada, doctors can now prescribe trips to natural parks for their patients
A new scheme launched earlier this year in Canada gives select doctors the option of providing their patients with a free annual pass to the country’s national parksas part of an effort to increase access to nature and the health benefits it provides. PaRx, an initiative launched by the BC Parks Foundation in 2019, has partnered with Parks Canada to provide physicians in four provinces with an initial set of 100 passes for medical prescriptions. A Parks Canada annual pass normally costs around $72 for an adult. Dr. Melissa Lem, Director of PaRxsaid, “There’s this huge body of research that shows that time spent in nature can improve all sorts of different physical and mental health conditions, from diabetes and heart disease to ADHD and depression.”
3) A Spanish court rules that the welfare of pets will be taken into account when the couples divorce
“Animals are part of the family and when a family decides to separate, the animal’s fate must be settled with the same importance as the fate of other family members,” said Lola Garcia, a Spanish lawyer. in a case that led to animal rights reform. The case concerned the separation of a couple who owned a dog, and the judge granted joint custody, considering the animal to be a sentient being with feelings. Until then, pets were considered “property” by Spanish law in this kind of situation. This has led to a major legal change in Spain, which will now take into account the welfare of a pet when couples divorce or separate.
4) Research has discovered 30,000 enzymes capable of degrading plastic
Microbes around the world and deep in the ocean are evolving to eat plastic, says new study. The report, published in the journal Microbial Ecology, found more than 30,000 enzymes capable of degrading more than 10 different types of plastic. The large-scale study analyzed more than 200 million genes present in DNA samples to reach these conclusions. It has thus established that one in four organisms among those analyzed could degrade plastics. Even more interesting is the correlation between the number of plastic-degrading enzymes found in different locations and the amount of plastic litter in the same area.. The researchers say they found that the number of plastic-degrading enzymes was linked to the level of pollution in an area. The scientists therefore concluded that the microbes evolved according to the type of plastic pollution present in their region..
5) Edison and Dali were right: interrupting sleep after a few minutes can stimulate creativity.
To get that creative boost, you basically have to wake up just when a certain stage of sleep sets in, where reality seems to melt into fantasy. To use this technique, figures such as Dali and Edison held an object, such as a spoon or a ball, while standing on a chair. When they dozed off, the object fell, made noise and woke them up. After spending a few moments on the verge of unconsciousness, they were ready to begin their work. This early stage of sleep, known as the state of hypnagogia (or N1), and only lasts a few moments before sinking into a deeper sleep, but it could be the “ideal cocktail for creativity” according to the lead author, Delphine Oudiette, research fellow at the Paris Brain Institute.
Inspired by the great minds who have employed this technique, Oudiette and her group set out to see if this method could actually work for everyone. They recruited 103 healthy participants who had the ability to fall asleep easily and presented them with ten math problems with a hidden instruction allowing them to be resolved more quickly. They were then given a 20-minute break, during which they were asked to relax or sleep in a comfortable position on a semi-reclined chair in a dark room, with their hands placed outside the armrests. . They were holding a cup, so that if they fell asleep, it would replicate the experience. The researchers then found that participants who had spent at least 15 seconds in the N1 stage had an 83% chance of discovering the hidden instruction.compared to 30% for those who had remained awake.
6) A Japanese start-up has invented a wind turbine capable of harnessing the energy of typhoons
Challenergy, a Japanese energy start-up, intends to build the first wind turbine capable of withstanding tropical storms, and to capture this tremendous energy in countries hit by typhoons, where normal wind turbines are forced to stop. For indeed, Japan experiences an average of 26 typhoons and storms per yearand it is partly for this reason that the country’s wind energy capacity remains very low.
7) Scottish nightclub produces clean energy from dancers’ body heat
SWG3, a nightclub and venue located in Glasgow, Scotlandis pioneering a new way of exchanging energy with the public. A system of air collectors mounted above the dance floor absorbs the heat rising from the boosted clubbers and stores it in boreholes. These holes then act as batteries, and are used to cool the club during weekend festivities, or on the contrary to warm the place during office hours and meetings throughout the week. This would reduce up to 70 tonnes of carbon emissions per year.
And if you want to discover this selection of illustrations showing the main problems facing our societysee our previous article on the subject, right here.
