Good News Notes: “At a park in the east Amman neighborhood of Marka, a local street cat stalks two small birds past shrubs and saplings. Deema Assaf, an architect turned environmentalist, stops talking for a moment to watch the interaction. Only a few feet from the oblivious birds, the cat freezes. Then it loses interest…
Tag: Japanese
Waste hop stem in the beer industry upcycled into cellulose nanofibers
Good News Notes: “Some three quarters of the biomass in hop plants used in beer-making ends up in landfills. But a group of Japanese researchers has developed a technique that ‘upcycles’ that waste hop into cellulose nanofibers (CNFs). A paper describing the technique was published in the journal ACS Agricultural Science & Technology on June 11. In…
NASA’s asteroid-sampling mission will bid farewell to asteroid Bennu today
Good News Notes: “After more than two years circling a lumpy space rock called Bennu, it’s finally time for NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft to head back to Earth with a full load precious cargo: pieces of an asteroid. OSIRIS-REx (known formally as Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer) collected asteroid samples from Bennu in October. Now…
Insulin made from egg yolk promises cheaper treatment for diabetics
Good News Notes: “The insulin pumps diabetics currently rely on do a great job of delivering the hormone as needed but need regular replacing due to what are known as fibrils. These form over a day or two as insulin compounds accumulate into clumps and create the risk of blockages, but scientists in Australia have…
Magnificent Egyptian Catacomb Reveals Carvings of a ‘Worthy’ Woman and Her Pet
Good News Notes: “Almost 2,000 years ago, at a time when the Romans ruled Egypt, a woman named “Demetria” was laid to rest in a magnificently decorated catacomb at Saqqara in Egypt.” “A carving found in the underground tomb appears to depict Demetria wearing an elaborate dress while carrying grapes. Some sort of pet looks…