Hello, this is your collection of good news. These are the positive developments this week:
Meat made from air could reduce world hunger and combat climate change; NASA is on its way to the moon again after 50 years, and promises great progress for people on Earth itself, people with complete paralysis have been able to walk again thanks to a major advance; a group of rats are trained to help rescuers find and communicate with victims in inaccessible places; and the poetry machine on the streets of Slovenia.
Click the video above for the full rundown and learn more about the following:
1. Meat made from air can reduce world hunger and combat climate change
It is expected that by 2050 the population of the planet will reach 10,000 million people. Which probably means a 70% increase in demand for food production.
It’s a big ask on planet Earth, but thankfully some people are working on sustainable alternatives to feed the growing population. One such alternative is a protein made from air.
It all started in the 1970s, when NASA scientists tried to find a way to feed their astronauts on long space missions by converting elements from the air into proteins.
This procedure was shelved for decades, but then Dr. Lisa Dyson and Dr. John Reed finished it off and combined the ideas with more modern technology to create a sustainable meat alternative.
Air Protein mimics the conversion of carbon dioxide in nature and converts air into protein in a matter of hours, with the same amino acid profile as animal protein.
Watch the video above and meet Dr. Lisa Dyson, founder and CEO of Air Protein.
2. NASA is on its way to the moon again after 50 years and promises a lot of progress for people on earth.
NASA’s Artemis rocket is on its way to the moon after an epic launch, 50 years after the last Apollo lunar mission.
Artemis’ goal is to get astronauts to the lunar surface before the end of the decade and establish a sustainable base there for future human exploration of Mars.
But why is it good news that we are returning to the moon?
“The world of space is a global village that unites the entire planet, and space technology is part of our daily lives without realizing it,” said Dr. Farhan Asrar, a global faculty member at International Space University, a physician and adjunct professor at the University of Toronto.
Infrared thermometers, for example, “were initially developed by space agencies,” he explains.
Likewise, the origins of modern telemedicine (the practice of providing medical services from a distance) also trace their roots to these space agencies when they were given the challenge of “taking care of astronauts during their space missions”.
Whenever we talk about climate change, the measurements are based on satellite technology, which also owes its origins to space technology, says Dr. Asrar.
Historically, space agencies have stepped in to help in times of crisis, most recently during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Canadian Space Agency has also committed “that any type of technology or program for its space missions must have benefits.” terrestrial applications,” says Asrar.
3. People with complete paralysis have been able to walk again thanks to a major advance
Walking involves a sophisticated communication system, where our brain sends commands to the lumbar spinal cord, which is home to neurons that orchestrate the movements that enable us to walk.
It’s a delicate system, and a spinal cord injury can cut off this precious communication from the lumbar spinal cord to the brain and make our limbs unresponsive. The most serious consequence is permanent paralysis.
But there is a breakthrough that brings hope and great promise to the approximately 10,000 new injuries that occur in the EU each year.
In 2018, neuroscientist Grégoire Courtine, from the Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne, used epidural electrical stimulation to help paralyzed people walk again.
Now the same team has improved the technology and made it much more accurate, so that even those who were completely paralyzed can operate the electrodes attached to their spine to move.
Using an electronic device and a Bluetooth connection, groups of neurons are stimulated, which in turn activate certain muscles, allowing patients not only to walk, but in some cases to swim or even cycle.
4. A group of rats is being trained to help rescuers find and communicate with victims in inaccessible places.
You may remember the harrowing weeks of the Tham Luang Cave Rescue, when rescuers from around the world came together to rescue a Thai youth football team trapped in a cave.
The operation to locate the group of children took weeks and the rescue operation was threatened by rising water levels with strong currents.
Well, if the Belgian non-profit organization APOPO is successful, future search and rescue efforts could have a new, tiny ally to carry out their difficult task: a rat in a small, high-tech backpack.
Because of their size, dexterity and keen sense of smell, rats are proving to be a valuable tool in current search and rescue efforts.
APOPO trains rats – which it calls “HeroRATs” – and dogs to detect land mines and detect tuberculosis outbreaks.
And now the rats are being trained to locate humans in simulated disaster areas. Once trained, they receive a backpack with technology that enables wireless audiovisual communication in real time with the outside world.
More details about the hero rats in NEXT, the Euronews section dedicated to the future.
5. The poetry machine in the streets of Slovenia
A new poetry machine, known locally as “Poemomat”, prints any poem you want for one euro. And you can also read it in a computer generated voice.
The machine is expected to go on tour, and the authors say they dream that one day there will be many Poemomats all over Slovenia.
In the video above you can see the Poemomat reciting a poem in Slovenian.
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Always remember that it can be difficult to find them in the headlines, but some news can be good news.
