This is his summary of Good News:
We bring you news of a project that harnesses rain to provide a reliable source of water for schools in Venezuela; the news that if you want to start exercising more, you may just need a more active friend; Zimbabwe’s key step in fighting AIDS; confirmation from Apple that it will ditch its lightning port to make USB Type-C cables standard; and a US study showing that video games may be associated with better cognitive performance in children.
Watch the video above to learn more about each story, or keep reading!
1. A rainwater revolution in Venezuela
Many people in Venezuela struggle to obtain a reliable water supply due to recurring problems with networks operated by state-owned companies.
At the Unidad Educativa Nuestra Señora del Encuentro, a school in Petare, one of the largest slums in Venezuela, the water supply was so precarious that students had to bring water from home to drink and wash their hands during the day.
But then Laurencio Sánchez, a Venezuelan architect, designed the Lata de Agua [Can of Water] a system that captures and filters rain for use in schools to bring a constant flow of clean water to communities.
“It is a model of sustainable, alternative and complementary water supply based on the collection, storage and treatment of rainwater in vulnerable communities and their institutions,” explains Sánchez.
“The model offers, at the local level, a unique possibility of obtaining abundant and quality water for at least six months of the year in these communities, not only in vulnerable communities but in all places that suffer from water scarcity.”
Lata de Agua began operating in 2019 in three schools and one outpatient clinic.
At the Fermín Toro school in Petare, the lives of the students and their teachers have changed.
Dayani Echezuría, director of the school, says that the institutions sometimes went three to eight months without water, but since the Lata de Agua project was installed, they have had a constant flow.
“We no longer suspend school activities; we work our daily workday. The benefit has been huge for the school,” she says.
At the Unidad Educativa Nuestra Señora del Encuentro, another school in Petare, rainwater is used to irrigate a vegetable garden, which helps feed its 850 students.
Before the arrival of the project, the crops would dry up. “We planted corn and there was not enough water because, due to the difficulties of the sector and the reality we were experiencing, we had to ration. We had to choose between the kitchen, the bathrooms, the toilet and the garden”, says director María Inés Guerrero.
But thanks to this [the Lata de Agua systems] we can sow better, have higher yields and thus achieve better nutrition.”
2. If you want to start exercising more, you may just need a more active friend
A group of researchers has developed a mathematical model that says that active friends are a critical factor in increasing our physical activity.
The researchers were curious as to why Americans still don’t seem to meet the recommended amount of weekly exercise, despite the widely known health benefits.
They have found that a complete absence of social influence results in long-term sedentary behavior and even declines in physically active populations.
Social interactions between sedentary and moderately active groups were the most important factor encouraging relatively inactive people to become and stay physically active.
On the other hand, social interactions that encourage moderately active people to become sedentary often put an end to exercise routines altogether.
The good news for you is that to get back on the treadmill, you may need a more active friend. This news may also provide a new way for governments and organizations to boost public health programs by focusing on community activities.
3. Zimbabwe’s key move to fight AIDS
Zimbabwe has become the first country in Africa and the third in the world, after Australia and the US, to approve an HIV prevention drug called CAB-LA, recently recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a safe and highly effective prevention option. for people at high risk of HIV.
In African countries, people most at risk of contracting HIV include sex workers and LGBTQ+ communities, who do not have access to health care due to laws and social segregation.
Research has shown that injections of CAB-LA every two months are very effective in reducing the risk of contracting HIV.
In controlled trials, the use of CAB-LA resulted in a 79% relative reduction in HIV risk compared to oral PrEP, another preventative medication that must be taken daily, which is often a challenge.
Zimbabwe has launched a major battle against HIV, launching an ambitious plan to end AIDS by 2030. And it has made impressive progress towards a target known as the 90-90-90: 90 per cent of people living with HIV know their status; 90 percent receive antiretroviral treatment and 90 percent have suppressed virus, according to the country’s National AIDS Council (NAC).
Zimbabweans have already seen AIDS-related deaths drop from an estimated 130,000 in 2002 to 20,000 in 2021.
4. Confirmation from Apple that it will ditch its lightning port to make USB Type-C cables standard
A few episodes ago, the Good News roundup covered the EU’s environmental deal to impose a single port standard for smartphones, tablets and laptops sold in the bloc by the end of 2024.
A win-win to reduce both frustration and e-waste: e-waste, which is the fastest growing waste stream in the developed world.
The resistance had been mainly from Apple, who were the most affected by the measure. They had said that uniform porters would stifle innovation.
The updated good news on that story is that Apple has confirmed that it will ditch its Lightning port in the future and switch the iPhone to USB Type-C to meet European standards.
“We have no choice, as we do all over the world, [Apple will] comply with local laws,” Apple senior vice president of worldwide marketing Greg Joswiak said, speaking at the Wall Street Journal’s Tech Live Conference in California.
5. Video games may be associated with better cognitive performance in children.
Numerous studies have previously linked video games to behavioral and mental health problems. But a new study of nearly 2,000 children suggests cognitive benefits may also be associated with gaming.
Researchers have found that kids who play video games for three or more hours a day perform better on cognitive skills, such as impulse control and working memory, than those who don’t or have never played.
Scientists at the University of Vermont, Burlington, separated the 2,000 children into two groups, one for those who did not play games, and those who reported playing video games for three hours a day or more in another.
A threshold that exceeds the screen time guidelines of the American Academy of Pediatrics(link is external)
The researchers also say that while previous studies have reported associations between video games and increased depression, violence and aggressive behavior, they did not find that to be the case and that this association was not statistically significant.
They insist that their study does not account for cause and effect, which means it could be that children who are good at these types of cognitive tasks choose to play video games. But they note that more research is needed because the neurobiological mechanisms are not yet fully understood.
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