Good news: Instead of palm oil, safe and sustainable yeast oil should be used +++ Deutsche Bahn must offer the title “Miscellaneous” +++ Dmitri Muratow is auctioning off his Nobel Prize medal for 103.5 million US dollars
The best news in the BRIGITTE Good News Ticker for June 2022
The news often shows the horrors of this world – currently, for example, the corona pandemic and the Ukraine war. But there are not only the dark sides, our world has so much beauty in store for us. We want to celebrate the little everyday things and give you something positive to take with you. It’s time for good news – if not now, then when?
June 22, 2022
Avoid palm oil: now comes yeast oil
Palm oil is used for food, cosmetics and fuel, among other things, and is therefore one of the most commonly used vegetable oils, which means that the demand is very high. However, it is very bad for our environment and therefore for the climate. In order to make room for the oil palms, entire rainforests are cut down by international corporations. This also releases a lot of carbon dioxide, which causes great damage.
All the better that the Hamburg start-up Colipi Biotech has developed a solution that wants to counteract this by producing oil from yeast. This oil can be used for normal use and would thus completely replace palm oil. This would not be so easy with other vegetable oils. In order to obtain the oil, the yeasts are first fed with biomass. After some time, these then become fat in the bioreactor and begin to produce oil, which can then be used excellently for food and co.
This is particularly good news on this day of the rainforest, because we need plants and trees to live and their protection should become much more important for us. The Colipi Biotech project aims to produce the oil in huge bioreactors by 2050 and thus offer safe and sustainable yeast oil.
Deutsche Bahn must offer the salutation “Divers”.
Anyone who has previously bought a train ticket on the Internet could only choose between the salutation “Mr.” and “Mrs.” According to a court ruling, Deutsche Bahn will have to offer a gender-neutral address in the future, and the Higher Regional Court (OLG) in Frankfurt has now obliged the company to do so. The basis of the judgment was the complaint of a person who assigns himself to neither the female nor the male gender.
From January 1, 2023, it should therefore be avoided “to discriminate against the plaintiff of non-binary gender affiliation by having to state a salutation as Mr. or Ms. when using the company’s offers”. Deutsche Bahn must now add the salutation “Miscellaneous” in the online booking system. Due to the necessary technical conversion, the company was given a period until the end of the year. When issuing tickets at the counter, writing to customer service, advertising and stored data, the judgment must be implemented immediately. The Higher Regional Court judgment is not contestable.
June 21, 2022
Kremlin critic Dmitry Muratov is auctioning off his Nobel Peace Prize medal
Russian journalist Dmitri Muratov has sold his Nobel Peace Prize medal at auction for a whopping $103.5 million. An unknown bidder bought the medal over the phone. The money from the auction is to go to a good cause and go to refugee Ukrainian children via the UN children’s fund UNICEF.
Muratov’s goal is to support the traumatized and partially orphaned and homeless children. He said that it should serve as an example for wealthy people to encourage them to also auction valuable possessions for Ukrainians. The prize money of around 470,000 euros that he received for the Nobel Prize is also to be donated.
June 20, 2022
This is how drinking water is created from air and sun
In Tunisia and Morocco, around one in five people has no access to freshly treated drinking water. To counteract this, the French-Tunisian start-up “Kumulus Water” has set itself the task of supplying schools and communities in North Africa with clean drinking water. This device, which looks like a small robot, pulls water out of the air. In principle, it imitates the morning dew. The air flows from the outside into the filter, where it is first cleaned of pollutants and finally fed into the device itself so that the water can cool down and condense. This is how the dew is then reproduced.
The first machine is in a Tunisian primary school, which is particularly hard hit by water shortages and only has unclean and therefore harmful rainwater available. In the pilot project, the students are supplied with up to 30 liters of clean water a day. The device still has to be approved by the government and when it does, it can immensely reduce water shortages and, most importantly, support the affected countries.
June 15, 2022
The Super Worm: This animal can digest styrofoam
Researchers at the Australian University of Queensland discovered that the so-called superworm likes to eat styrofoam and can also digest it well. The little animals have a certain enzyme in their stomachs, which enables them to process this substance in their bodies without any problems. In the study, the superworms were given either Styrofoam, bran, or no food at all for over three weeks. It turned out that the animals that ate Styrofoam actually gained weight and tolerated this food well.
This finding could revolutionize recycling and offers new clues on how to look at this major problem in a new way. Plants should not be built directly in which the worms should eat plastic. But the special enzyme in the animal’s body should be identified and then used on a larger scale. To do this, the plastic should be made small and then placed in front of the appropriate enzyme – just like with the super animals.
June 13, 2022
Tierpark Hagenbeck: These animals have had offspring
Little Lorenzo was born in Hagenbeck Zoo at the beginning of June. The cute animal is an alpaca, which is particularly striking with its color. The young animal is snow-white, and only a single black spot adorns the otherwise light-colored fur. The first alpaca baby of the year was born at the end of May, and with a bit of luck there will be more.
At least as cute, but much more dangerous when they grow up, are the two Siberian tiger cubs, who also saw the light of day in May. The two little ones are a particularly nice joy because they are the first offspring in five years. Tiger mama Maruschka lovingly takes care of her happiness, and the visitors have also been able to take a look at her.
June 9, 2022
Flying Hope eV: This is how pilots help families with sick children
The Flying Hope eV is an association that helps families with sick children through charity flights. The children are flown free of charge by plane to treatment, hospices, hospitals or on vacation within Germany. Since it was founded in 2010, the pilots have been flying weekly and have recorded 550 flights so far, which means great financial relief for families.
The association now has around 200 members and 30 active volunteer pilots, who offer children with serious illnesses or disabilities a special opportunity. The principle comes from the USA, where it is not possible for families to simply take urgent flights due to a lack of health insurance or too high costs.
June 8, 2022
Bees have their own medical specialists
We all know how important bees are. They pollinate plants, provide honey and are therefore irreplaceable for our ecosystem. In order to protect these special little animals, there are medical specialists who have specialized in insects. There are around 17 veterinarians in Germany who are already dealing with the health and safety of bees, which are among the most important farm animals. With their work, the specialists support the preservation of the insects, which also preserves honey as an important foodstuff.
In order to examine the insects, the physicians do not use classic means, since the bees cannot be viewed and examined individually like horses, dogs and cats. Rather, they pay attention to the social structure and how the bees behave in nature. Here the bee doctors ask themselves questions like: Do the insects have enough food? Do they fly calmly? Where is the bee nest and what is the condition of the combs? The specialists use this to see how the bees are doing and whether they may need medication to prevent diseases.
June 3, 2022
The rainbow flag is now being hoisted over the Bundestag for the CSD
According to the press office of Parliament, the Federal Presidium has decided that the rainbow flag should be hoisted on Christopher Street Day from now on. Also on the International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia, Interphobia and Transphobia, which takes place on May 17th, the bright colors should shine over the Bundestag. A few months ago, the Federal Ministry of the Interior officially approved that the rainbow flag may be hoisted in front of federal government buildings on certain occasions.
It became known from within the Presidium that the decision for the Bundestag was unanimous. It will therefore be the first time that the Bundestag has hoisted a different flag on the building than the German or European one. “Yes, the flag is on the tower,” said the Vice President of the Bundestag, Katrin Göring-Eckardt (Greens), on Thursday. It is a global sign of acceptance and diversity. It is long overdue for a visible sign to be set in the Reichstag “that our country is a country of freedom, diversity and democracy that protects sexual and gender diversity and opposes all forms of discrimination.”
June 1, 2022
Domestic and foreign policy in Australia are occupied by women
In Australia, the cabinet around the new Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been sworn in. With ten of the total of 22 ministries, more are led by women than ever before. As in Germany, the offices of the interior and foreign ministries with Clare O’Neil and Penny Wong are now held by women. Linda Burney is also the first woman with indigenous roots to head the Ministry for Indigenous Australians.
“Feminism is trying to smash structures that rely on violence,” activist Kristina Lunz told Deutsche Welle. A feminist foreign policy focuses on peaceful conflict resolution and not on rearmament.
Margot Wallström coined the term “feminist foreign policy”. She was appointed Swedish foreign minister in 2014 and campaigned for women’s rights worldwide. She demanded that women be equally represented – in politics, business and society. She promoted women in the government apparatus, granted Funds for feminist projects abroad – in short: she designed a feminist foreign policy and thus became a pioneer for other countries.
Would you like more good news?
For even more good mood, just take a look at our good news ticker from May.
Sources used: zeit.de, dw.de, gigantic-magazin.de, flyinghope.de, hagenbeck.de, goodnews-magazin.de