Flashing Palely in the Margins
Things I learned these past few months
Below, a quick roundup of a few of the things I learned over the past few months.
Regardless of any reduction in emissions, climate change will raise the sea level of Pacific Island nations by at least six inches in the next 30 years. (NASA)
Three people with severe autoimmune conditions have gone into remission after being treated with bioengineered, CRISPR-modified immune cells. (Nature)
Botanists have grown a long-lost tree species from a 1,000-year-old seed found in a cave in the Judean Desert in the 1980s. (CNN)
Britain opened the world’s first coal-fired power station in 1882. It’s now the first G7 nation to phase out coal power completely. (CarbonBrief)
According to Netflix’s own engagement report, in the first half of 2024, people watched over 94 billion hours of movies and shows on Netflix. (Netflix)
Nearly every station in the London Underground contains an enamel plaque depicting a labyrinth. The collection were installed in 2013 by artist Mark Wallinger to mark the system’s 150th anniversary. (FutilityCloset)
Nepalese teenager Nima Rinji Sherpa has broken the record for the youngest mountaineer to summit Earth’s 14 highest peaks. (BBC)
There is a new species of shark or shark relative (skate, ray, or chimera) discovered approximately every two weeks. (David Shiffman)
WordPress powers over 43% of all sites on the internet. The next most significant single player in the space is e-commerce giant Shopify, which powers just 4% of all sites. (Sherwood)
Egypt has been certified malaria-free by the World Health Organization, one of 44 countries and one territory who have reached this milestone. (BBC)
In the past 40 years, the number of catastrophic injuries sustained by cheerleaders is greater than those sustained by female athletes playing all other high school and college sports combined. (NYTimes)
Germany’s flat-rate ticket for all public transport helped push people to switch from using cars to taking the train, reducing car emissions by 6.7 million tonnes of CO2 between its introduction in May 2023 and April 2024. This represents almost 5 percent of current annual transport sector emissions in the country. (Clean Energy Wire)
For the first time in history, every incumbent party in a developed nation this year lost vote share in elections. Financial Times
Software fixes are now responsible for more than 1 in 5 automotive recalls. (ArsTechnica)
Scientists say they have discovered the world’s largest coral — measuring longer than a blue whale — on an expedition in Solomon Islands. (ABC)
An international team of scientists using observations from NASA-German satellites found evidence that Earth’s total amount of freshwater dropped abruptly starting in May 2014 and has remained low ever since. (NASA)
Cheese is the most frequently stolen food item in the world. (Time)
Since 2010, national programs in Eastern and Southern Africa have prevented over 2.6 million new HIV infections in children. (Children and AIDS)
The world’s largest iced latte stands 11 feet tall, comprising 3,200 shots of espresso. (Sprudge)
In Canada, euthanasia now accounts for nearly one in 20 deaths. (BBC News)
New studies find our skin can generate antibodies, independent of the rest of our immune system. (Nature)
A new study has found that people who are 50 years or older that use the internet, may have a higher level of life satisfaction. It found that people who used the internet who were in that age demographic had fewer symptoms of depression and had a better outlook on life. (ABC News)