The Best News of Last Week - October 23, 2023
🌍🌡️ - Climate Prophecy: The Forecast Is 100% Chance of 'Cool'
1. No cases of cancer caused by HPV in Norwegian 25-year olds, the first cohort to be mass vaccinated for HPV
Last year there were zero cases of cervical cancer in the population that was vaccinated in 2009 against the HPV virus, which can cause the cancer in women. The HPV virus is extremely common, basically everyone comes into contact with one version or another of the virus in their lifetime.
The vaccine was given to girls only out of an abundance of caution, they were the most likely to contract cancer from the viruses, and because there was limited supply.
2. ‘Every square inch is covered in life’: the ageing oil rigs that became marine oases
Built decades ago, California’s offshore oil platforms are home to a huge diversity of marine life. According to a 2014 study, the rigs were some of the most “productive” ocean habitats in the world, a term that refers to biomass – or number of fish and other creatures and how much space they take up – per unit area.
3. Vaccinations may have prevented almost 20 million COVID-19 deaths worldwide
Vaccinations estimated to have averted 19.8 million COVID-19 deaths worldwide in their first year, according to the latest Imperial modelling study.
In the first year of the vaccination programme, 19.8 million out of a potential 31.4 million COVID-19 deaths were prevented worldwide according to estimates based on excess deaths from 185 countries and territories.
4. Global climate policy forecast predicts ‘well below 2°C’ Paris Agreement climate goals will be met
They report only a 10% probability we exceed 2°C by 2050. Temperatures are expected to peak between 1.7°C and 1.8°C, which is consistent with the “well below 2°C” objective of the Paris Agreement in Art. 2.1c.
5. Young driver fatality rates have fallen sharply in the US, helped by education, technology
Crash and fatality rates among drivers under 21 have fallen dramatically in the U.S. during the past 20 years.
Using data from 2002-2021, the report says that fatal crashes involving a young driver fell by 38%, while deaths of young drivers dropped even more, by about 45%.
6. A Virginia woman was feeling sad. Her doctor prescribed her a cat.
7. Remote workers report saving $5,000 to $10,000 a year
What value would American workers place on the privilege to work from home?
In a 2022 survey by FlexJobs, 45% of remote workers reported saving at least $5,000 a year. One in 5 reported saving $10,000 a year. The savings average out to about $6,000 a year. The poll reached 4,000 workers in July and August of last year.
Three years into the remote-work revolution, research increasingly suggests that telework is a commodity, a job descriptor worth thousands of dollars in potential savings and improved quality of life.
That's it for this week :)
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