It has been a daunting task to clean up the River Seine in Paris to host the open swimming competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Swimming in the famous French river was banned for 101 years because of poor water quality.
However, recently mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, kept her promise that it would be cleaned up and she would be one of the first in. To cheers and applause, she led a group of about 100 officials, athletes and local people by taking a dip in the river after many tests showed it was finally safe.
Scientists in Indonesia, recently spotted a Sumatran orangutan, named Rakus, using natural medicine to heal a large wound on his cheek. This has led to new discussions about the intelligence of the great apes. According to the researchers in Indonesia’s Gunung Leuser National Park, Bakus was hurt in a fight, leaving him with a nasty wound.
The researchers observed that he chewed a plant called Akar Kuning, to create a paste to apply to his wounded cheek. This plant is used by local people to help treat malaria and diabetes. The researchers then observed that within a week the wound had closed.
The scientists believe Rakus knew he was applying medicine because orangutans rarely eat this plant, and because of how long he spent tending to his injury. This is the first time ever a creature in the wild has been recorded treating an injury with a medicinal plant. They think Raku’s human-like behaviour could come from an ancestor we share with apes. However scientists have in the past already observed great apes using medicine plants to stay in good health and cure illness and infections.
According to a recent study published in the journal Science, conservation efforts are reducing global biodiversity loss. This is the first study of its kind. For over a decade, international researchers have reviewed 665 trials of conservation measures in different countries, oceans, and across species, some dating back as far back as 1890.
They found that the conservation measures had a positive effect in two out of every three cases. Their findings show a “ray of light” for those working to protect threatened animals and plants.
Co-author Dr Penny Langhammer, executive vice-president of environment charity Re:wild, told BBC News: “If you read the headlines about extinction these days, it would be easy to get the impression that we are failing biodiversity but that’s not really looking at the whole picture. This study provides the strongest evidence to date that not only does conservation improve the state of biodiversity and slow its decline, but when it works, it really works”.
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The study has highlighted that one positive outcome of conservation measures is that the deforestation rates falling 74% in the Congo Basin. However, a fifth of projects negatively impacted the targeted species. Even though some provided an accidental boost for other species.
According to a new report titled Global Electricity Review (“Report”) by global energy think tank Ember, 30% of the electricity being used across the world now comes from renewable energy. Renewable wind and solar power are growing faster than any other electricity source in history, Solar and wind energy have grown faster than expected, increasing from just 0.2% of global power in 2000 to 13.4% in 2023.
The Report has also stated that India has overtaken Japan to become the world’s third-largest solar power generator in 2023, as it generated 5.8% of its electricity from solar energy last year. In 2023, a record 5.5% of the world’s electricity was generated from solar energy.
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These figures are for 2023 and it’s a record high amount of global electricity being produced through renewable energy. Many countries are trying to cut the amount of fossil fuels they use. However, the growth of the clean electricity sources needs to speed up even more to meet the global goal of tripling renewable energy by 2030.
Word Check Renewable energy or clean energy or green power is made from resources that nature will replace, like wind, water, and sunshine. This kind of energy does not pollute the environment.
A group of 353 ballerinas, all aged 9-19 years old, has broken the Guinness World Record for the largest assembly of dancers ‘en pointe’ within a minute. The ballerinas gathered at New York City’s Plaza Hotel to create this re- cord. The dancers beat the previous record of 306 ballerinas ‘en pointe, set in 2019.
