Five Amazing Things!
It's time for another installment of inspiring breakthroughs in science, tech, medicine and beauty!
Hello to our readers in 28 countries around the world! It’s me, Alicia, Editor-In-Chief of Womancake, a space for women over age 40. Before I get to my Five Amazings, lemme just state the obvious: #NoKings!!
You get it, I know you do, and so I hope you’re finding time to rest, re-charge, and re-carb, because we’ve got a lot more work ahead if we want to save Democracy.
But that’s not enough. We also need to be inspired, and to remember that, despite the darkness that is all around us, we are also living in a time of miracles. Let’s start here:
Science is helping us live better all the damn time. I don’t know about you, but of all the miracles taking place at the intersection of science, medicine and tech, the one that has most astounded me is when I see a partial leg amputee walking around on bionic lower legs. IT BLOWS MY MIND!! But something else has now taken over the top spot, because researchers just had astounding success with a brand-new visual implant that is partially restoring sight in 84% of participants! The implant isn’t perfect yet, but its potential is off-the-charts, and could be literally life-changing for those with severe visual impairment (aka blindness). Women are more likely to experience macular degeneration as we age, so this could directly benefit us in the years ahead. YAY!!
Now let’s jump to the world of Mother Nature, long may she reign. Scientists have been carefully tracking the population of North Atlantic right whales, and it seems that their numbers are slowly increasing! But wait… let’s keep this in perspective. There are 8 more of them this year than last, but the total group is still under 400. So technically they’re still on the brink of extinction. Can we send some, I don’t know… love and light to these guys? Let’s also donate to help them out. Oh, and before I forget, when I was a kid growing up in Canada there was a certain children’s entertainer with a certain hit single, and it made me a whale fan for life. So maybe send that over to the grandkids today :)
Come with me now as we bop on over to the world of self care. Apparently there is a growing body of evidence linking chronic gum disease to dementia. My own dentist (have I mentioned her before? Her office is all women, a dental matriarchy, and I love going there!) already clued me into this last year, so I went out and bought a portable water-flosser, and honey, my gums are gorgeous now! I haven’t stopped flossing with floss, I just rinse with this thing first.
There’s something new and exciting in the treatment of chronic diseases, and I’ll give you the headline here: “Researchers Discover Achilles Heel of Lyme Disease Pathogen.” (Fact: whenever I read this term it immediately makes me think of Brad Pitt as Achilles in that laughably-bad movie, “Troy”.) One question I have is whether or not this type of anti-biotic would only work if administered right away, when someone has a fresh tick bite, or if it could work on those who’ve had the disease for years. So far the preliminary results are just in freshly-bitten mice, but this is a huge step forward and could lead to some treatment coming to market for humans in the next few years. Thanks, scientists and mice! More info and context here.
Here’s one in sustainable living that made me yelp with excitement: researchers are developing a new class of fully biodegradable plastics (you read that right!) from “wood waste”, which is a by-product of the timber industry. It contains all the properties of the current plastics we use every day (EX: durable, see-through and/or colorful), but it’s fully sustainable and bio degradable. My question: would it shed the same amount of micro-plastics, and would those be non-harmful to us and the environment? I’m keeping my eye on this project to find out.
Lastly, just for fun, let’s detour into the wild world of beauty breakthroughs. One of my clients got this Halloween-appropriate facial treatment, and she looks amazingly glowy and snatched! It uses your very own blood, which, not sure that I’d go for this without robust proof of sanitary safety. But it seems relatively non-invasive, and the healing downtime is quite a lot less than say, surgery. For now I’m going to stick with my holy grail retinol product.
Funny coincidence - I also grew up with the baby beluga song on repeat (maybe this is a Canadian and Alaska thing! It was how I knew the answer to this NY times mini crossword puzzle clue recently. Did you know that San Juan Island has a Whale Museum? I highly recommend a visit if you are in the area.
Fabulous round up that makes me feel optimistic! Thanks for sharing these 5 things.