The Best News You May Have Missed in 2022
2022 may have been better than you think
December 2022
Script
2022 may have been turbulent, but there was also plenty of good news you may have missed.
The year brought surprisingly positive news about Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.
For years, scientists have warned rising temperatures are bleaching the reef’s coral.i
But an August report revealed the Great Barrier Reef is healing, with most of it now enjoying coral levels higher than they’ve been in over 35 years.ii
That wasn’t the only positive climate news out of Australia.
An Aussie startup may have solved the problem of methane emissions from livestock.
Cows produce so much of the greenhouse gas that some activists suggest the only solution is for humans to shift to more plant-based diets.iii But the researchers developed a feed supplement that can reduce cows’ methane emissions by over 95%.iv
And cows weren’t the only animals who got big news in 2022.
Scientists in the U.K. may have made a major breakthrough in protecting marine life.
Since the 1970s, the global population of sharks and rays has declined by 71%, because many are accidentally killed by fishing operations.v
But researchers devised an electric pulse to keep the sharks and rays away from fishing hooks. An experiment showed the device reduced the accidental catch of sting rays by 71% and of blue sharks by 91%.vi
2022’s good news wasn’t just limited to the animal kingdom.
Here on dry land, we may have found a way to significantly reduce car crashes.
A pair of studies on technology that automatically hits a vehicle’s brakes in case of an emergency showed that it can reduce pickup truck crashes by 40% and rear-end collisions by half.vii
Perhaps the biggest breakthrough of 2022, however, came from a group of Japanese scientists who, working with embryonic cells, were able to grow hair follicles in a lab setting.viii
The research may represent the first step towards curing baldness.
It could be the biggest comeback since the Great Barrier Reef.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
- In 2022, parts of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef had their highest coral levels in 35 years.
- A new dietary supplement has the potential to reduce cows’ methane emissions by 95%.
- Scientific breakthroughs in Japan may put us on the road to curing baldness.
Sources
- "There’s Only One Way To Save the Great Barrier Reef, Scientists Conclude" (Dennis Normile) — Science
- Annual Summary Report of Coral Reef Condition 2021/22 — Australian Institute of Marine Science
- Methane Emissions Are Driving Climate Change. Here’s How To Reduce Them. — United Nations Environment Programme
- "A Pellet That Stops Cows From Burping Climate-Warming Methane" (Sybilla Gross) — Bloomberg
- "Half a Century of Global Decline in Oceanic Sharks and Rays" (Nathan Pacoureau, et al.) — Nature
- "Electric Pulses Drastically Cut Number of Sharks Caught by Accident" (Corryn Wetzel) — New Scientist
- "Studies Find Automatic Braking Can Cut Crashes Over 40%" (Tom Krisher) — Associated Press
- "Reprogramming of Three-dimensional Microenvironments for in Vitro Hair Follicle Induction" (Tatsuto Kageyama, et al.) — Science Advances
Shownotes
SOUND: "Dixie Gypsy" (Sergey Ignatov)
FOOTAGE: Suzy Hazelwood (Pexels)
CITED SOURCES AND NEWS OUTLETS ARE NOT AFFILIATED WITH AND HAVE NOT ENDORSED OR SPONSORED ANY PORTION OF THIS PRODUCTION.
Sources
- Science
"There’s Only One Way To Save the Great Barrier Reef, Scientists Conclude" (Dennis Normile)
- Australian Institute of Marine Science
Annual Summary Report of Coral Reef Condition 2021/22
- United Nations Environment Programme
Methane Emissions Are Driving Climate Change. Here’s How To Reduce Them.
- Bloomberg
"A Pellet That Stops Cows From Burping Climate-Warming Methane" (Sybilla Gross)
- Nature
"Half a Century of Global Decline in Oceanic Sharks and Rays" (Nathan Pacoureau, et al.)
- New Scientist
"Electric Pulses Drastically Cut Number of Sharks Caught by Accident" (Corryn Wetzel)
- Associated Press
"Studies Find Automatic Braking Can Cut Crashes Over 40%" (Tom Krisher)
- Science Advances
"Reprogramming of Three-dimensional Microenvironments for in Vitro Hair Follicle Induction" (Tatsuto Kageyama, et al.)
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