Due to the bad news that often dominates NU.nl, the good news can be snowed under. That is why we list positive and cheerful messages. This week: from the beginning of 2024 it will no longer matter whether you are gay or straight if you want to donate blood, two new bird flu vaccines appear to be effective and greenhouse gas emissions fell sharply last year.
Orientation will no longer matter in blood donation from 2024
From the beginning of next year it will no longer matter whether you are straight or gay if you want to donate blood. Sanquin Blood Bank will present everyone with an identical questionnaire about sexual behaviour. It should no longer matter who you had sex with, Sanquin believes. Minister Ernst Kuipers (Public Health) is enthusiastic and wants the situation to change as of 1 January 2024.
Bird flu vaccines appear to be successful in chickens
Two new vaccines against bird flu are effective, according to an initial trial by Wageningen Bioveterinary Research. The shots not only work against symptoms, but also against the spread of the virus. As far as is known, the vaccines only work in chickens. The knowledge organization nevertheless speaks of “an important first step towards vaccination against bird flu in poultry farming”.
Greenhouse gas emissions fell sharply in 2022
It sounds contradictory, but the energy crisis also has positive consequences. Because citizens and companies used less natural gas last year, the Netherlands emitted 9 percent less greenhouse gases than in 2021. In agriculture, emissions fell because many greenhouse growers turned down the heating or left greenhouses completely empty.
Fewer and fewer hospitals are using harmful anesthetic gas
Speaking of less harmful emissions: anesthetic gases are used less and less in Dutch hospitals. Instead of the well-known anesthesia cap, patients are more often given a more lasting sedation via an IV. In this way, hospitals want to emit less greenhouse gases.
Belgian narrowly reaches the finish of ‘toughest ultra run in the world’
The Belgian Karel Sabbe has completed the grueling Barkley Marathons at the last minute. With less than seven minutes on the clock, he crossed the finish line exhausted. In the past 35 years, only 15 people have completed the “most challenging ultra run in the world”.
Even more news to make you happy
There was even more good news this week. Among other things, these messages, with big or small news, gave us a smile at the editor:
- Judoka Roy Meyer stopped a shoplifter in Rotterdam on his socks. The thief seemed to escape with 80 euros worth of food from the supermarket. That was without counting the judoka, who knocked the thief to the ground with a door sweep.
- For the first time, scientists have created baby mice from the cells of two male mice. Although it is not certain whether the method also works in humans, experts say it is an important step in biology.
- A couple from Apeldoorn became millionaires in a casino. The couple put 1 euro in a slot machine and won thus 1.1 million euros. It was the first time for both of them to take a chance in Rotterdam.
- Great apes spin around deliberately to make themselves dizzy. According to scientists, the animals may do this to make themselves feel more positive and to step out of reality for a while.
