The Best News of Last Week - November 13, 2023
🦔 - Who knew Attenborough's echidna was just camera-shy?
1. New state law prevents animal abuse offenders from owning pets
The law bans those convicted of animal cruelty, including those involved with dogfighting, from owning any kind of animal for five years after their first criminal offense.
2. A door at a Swedish library was accidentally left open — 446 people came in, borrowed 245 books. Every single one was returned
The library was supposed to be closed for All Saints Day — a celebration sometimes also called All Hallows Day, the precursor of Halloween. But the library staff had forgotten to close a door. So people came in, thinking the library was open. Some visitors realized the library was technically closed and went home, but others did not.
3. Ohio votes to legalize marijuana for adult recreational use, becoming 24th state to do so
Ohio voters approved a measure legalizing recreational marijuana on Tuesday, defying Republican legislative leaders who had failed to pass the proposed law.
Passage of Issue 2 makes Ohio the 24th state to allow adult cannabis use for non-medical purposes.
4. First ever images prove 'lost echidna' not extinct
Scientists have filmed an ancient egg-laying mammal named after Sir David Attenborough for the first time, proving it isn't extinct as was feared.
An expedition to Indonesia led by Oxford University researchers recorded four three-second clips of Attenborough's long-beaked echidna. Spiky, furry and with a beak, echidnas have been called "living fossils".
They are thought to have emerged about 200 million years ago, when dinosaurs roamed the Earth.
5. Dog leads family to missing cat that fell into 30-metre mineshaft
An incredibly lucky cat has his canine companion to thank for saving his life after the dog led rescuers to a 30 metre-deep mineshaft the cat fell into.
The cat, Mowgli, disappeared on Oct. 20 and had been missing for six days. Owner Michele Rose told the BBC that she had “almost given up hope” of finding her cat.
6. World’s first whole eye and partial face transplant gives Arkansas man new hope
A surgical team at NYU Langone Health in New York has performed the world’s first successful whole-eye transplant in a living person: Aaron James.
After an accident at work led to the loss of his left eye and part of his face, Aaron was given a new window to his soul, as well as a partial face transplant.
7. Obesity drug Wegovy cut risk of serious heart problems by 20%, study finds
The popular weight-loss drug Wegovy reduced the risk of serious heart problems by 20% in a large, international study that experts say could change the way doctors treat certain heart patients.
The research is the first to document that an obesity medication can not only pare pounds, but also safely prevent a heart attack, stroke or a heart-related death in people who already have heart disease — but not diabetes.
That's it for this week :)
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