The Best News of Last Week — October 3, 2022
1. The Ice Bucket Challenge wasn’t just for social media. It helped fund a new ALS drug
The ALS Association said that $2.2 million of funds that were raised from the Ice Bucket Challenge went into funding the development and trial of the new drug that the Food and Drug Administration approved this week for treatment of ALS, which is also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
The drug is not the only one benefitting from the challenge. More than $115 million were raised from the trend, and the ALS Association said it is funding 130 research projects in 12 different countries, as well as 40 potential treatments that are in development.
Aaron Jackson, the founder of the non-profit Planting Peace, traveled from his Florida home to Poland shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine. He estimates that he has helped find housing for some 300 refugees, including many dog owners who struggled to stay with their pets.
Jackson learned that dogs coming from Ukraine had not been allowed to mix with local dogs in Polish shelters due to concerns about disease. So, he recently found an animal shelter sitting empty in the city of Poznan and received permission to take it over.
The Serum Institute of India (SII), the world’s biggest vaccine maker, has developed the country’s first cervical cancer shot that will hit the market soon, the company and the government said on Thursday.
Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer among women globally, with an estimated 604,000 new cases and 342,000 deaths in 2020, according to the World Health Organization. About 90% of the new cases and deaths worldwide occurred in low- and middle-income countries that year.
A fearful-looking cat with orange and white fur sat hovering atop a mounted air conditioning unit while a steady stream of water rushed beneath it. Mike Ross, 29, spotted the frightened feline from a window, and immediately ran outside.
5. NASA successfully smacked its DART spacecraft into an asteroid
After nearly a year in transit, NASA’s experimental Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission, which sought to answer the questions, “Could you potentially shove a asteroid off its planet-killing trajectory by hitting it with a specially designed satellite? How about several?” has successfully collided with the Dimorphos asteroid. Results and data from the collision are still coming in but NASA ground control confirms that the DART impact vehicle has intercepted the target asteroid.
6. Museums on prescription: Brussels tests cultural visits to treat anxiety
From this month, psychiatrists in one of the Brussels’ largest hospitals have been able to offer patients “museum prescriptions”, a free visit with a few friends or family members to discover one or more of the city’s cultural institutions.
Museum prescriptions, Newell stressed, were a voluntary addition to medication, psychotherapy, individual or group therapy, as well as exercise, healthy eating and other forms of relaxation. “It’s just one extra tool that could help people get out of the house: to resocialise, reconnect with society.”
7. Lastly I want to recommend this newsletter: Storywhale Bedtime Stories
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From an independent writer who posts twice every week new and original bedtime stories.
That’s it for this week. This newsletter will always be free. If you liked this post you can support me with a small kofi donation:
Have a great week ahead.
