Science News We Can Use. Snippets from the World of Science.
Part of our Hey! Look at That! series.
Three Words that can Save Your Life
This is the story of someone who saw a need, dreamed up a solution, and found the technical support to make it happen. In so doing, he changed the world in a small but important way.
I have tried this thing. Darned if it doesn’t work as advertised. This could save a lot of lives. The story is from the BBC and several other sources.
A simple to install, free App, What3Words, could enable rescuers to find you anywhere on earth. The App is available in the Apple App Store and in Google Play. Read all about it:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-49319760
City Street Parking Run Like Air Traffic Control
Anyone who has lived in a city knows the frustration of double parked delivery trucks and taxis. They make movement impossible. A startup company thinks they have a solution, applying technology in a creative way. They are working with the city of Washington DC to prove the concept. We should all be rooting for them. This could make a big difference.
This excerpt from the article sums up the challenge we all face:
“Think of everything vying for the curb these days: taxis and ride-hail companies, picking up and dropping off passengers; delivery trucks hauling raw materials to restaurants, and the delivery drivers from services like Uber Eats and DoorDash picking up the cooked food for customers; public transit agencies and work crews; bike and scooter-share riders, and the people who charge and repair them; and regular folks, just hoping to park their cars.
It’s even worse when there’s no curb available. Taxis and Lyfts slow and let passengers off in the middle of the road or swing into bike lanes. Delivery drivers double park and block traffic. (Together, FedEx and UPS paid nearly $49 million in parking fines last year in New York City alone.)
Drivers circle for parking. In fact, a leading parking authority suggests that up to 30 percent of vehicles in downtown traffic are searching for parking. Some places—San Francisco, for example—have launched programs that change parking meter prices based on demand. But there’s no way for drivers to know when spaces are free before they arrive, even when they arewilling to pay to use them.”
From Wired magazine. Hope on the horizon.
https://www.wired.com/story/startup-tame-chaos-city-street-parking/
And Finally, a Living Drug to Beat Cancer
Reported by NPR and others. A Food and Drug Agency Advisory Panel has unanimously recommended a new drug. It enables the human immune system to attack cancer. It’s not every day that a proposed treatment gets a 10-0 vote of approval. People in the field are fired up about this one.
This has been in the works for some time. It may be at a breakthrough stage that could be a game changer of unimaginable proportions. If approved by the full FDA, trials can begin soon on Leukemia.
Read and be amazed. I know I was. https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/07/12/536812206/living-drug-that-fights-cancer-by-harnessing-the-immune-system-clears-key-hurdle
See you next week, Science Lovers.
Bill Clontz
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