Today is World Down Syndrome Day, and in honor of the global awareness day, we urge you to watch this viral ad featuring actress and model Madison Tevlin. The promo, produced by the agency Small New York in collaboration with CoorDown, the National Down Syndrome Society, and other organizations, challenges society’s assumptions about people with Down syndrome and shows some of the real-world consequences of those assumptions. “Our negative assumptions about people with Down syndrome can lead us to treat them in such a way that these assumptions become reality. In sociology, this is called a ‘self-fulfilling prophecy.’ Why not reverse our perspectives?” Small captioned the video.
Theo van der Voort has retired from picking out diseased flowers at WAM Pennings in the Netherlands, one of the country’s famed tulip farms. But though his 52-year career has come to an end, his legacy lives on: Van der Voort gave his name to WAM Pennings’ new sick tulip spotter, a robot. The new Theo is a boxy machine that works day and night to identify and kill any bulbs infected with a virus that can stunt growth and development, per the Associated Press. It’s one of 45 robots performing the same task at other farms around the country. “It’s fantastic,” van der Voort said. “It sees just as much as I see.” That efficacy is likely because the artificial intelligence model used in the robots is based on “the knowledge of the tulip farmers,” explained Erik de Jong, a managing director at the company that makes them, H2L Robotics. “The heart of the machine is the knowledge that we put into the AI model.”
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The Olympic Games may still be a few months away, but the Trisome Games are in full swing in Turkey. Like the Olympics, athletes are participating in a variety of sports — including gymnastics, judo, tennis, and swimming — and competing against one another for hard-earned medals. What makes these games unique, though, is that all the athletes have Down syndrome.
The week-long event held in the city of Antalya broughthundreds of participants together from 33 countries, per Daily Sabah. Currently, there isn’t a Down syndrome category at the Paralympics, so these games offer a chance for athletes to showcase their abilities andengage in competition against their peers.
“Our goal is to ensure that our athletes with Down syndrome can participate in all sports competitions comfortably and happily,” said Birol Aydın, president of the Turkish Special Athletes Sports Federation. “Their determination, resilience in dealing with problems, and outlook on life encourage us to work harder for them.”
Science
Menopause Might Explain Some Female Whales’ Long Lifespans
The only mammals known to go through menopause are humans and some toothed whale species, so scientists made the latter their focus for a recent study looking to uncover some of the mysteries behind the biological process. Published earlier this month, the study found thatfemales belonging to the five species that experience menopause — short-finned pilot whales, false killer whales, killer whales, narwhals, and beluga whales — live about 40 years longer than females of other whale species of a similar size. The findings support the “grandmother hypothesis” for why menopause exists, which posits that females live long beyond their reproductive years in order to aid younger generations in child-rearing.
“By living longer without extending their ‘reproductive lifespan’ (the years in which they breed), these females have more years to help their children and grandchildren, without increasing the ‘overlap’ period when they compete with their daughters by breeding and raising calves at the same time,” reads a press release from the University of Exeter.
The Yurok Tribe will manage a new gateway to Redwood National and State Parks. The land was previously part of its tribal territory, most of which was stolen during the Gold Rush.
Researchers discovered a new orchid species in Madagascar. “Finding such [an] amazing and charismatic species happens only once in a scientist’s career,” one team member said.
Meet the bird with a job: Officials in Oakland, California, “hired” a hawk to scare away crows that have been flocking to the city’s federal building every night.
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Inspiring Story
“An opportunity for them to feel like they belong”
After learning about the number of migrant families living in New York City shelters, 16-year-old Talya Landesberg set out to help the kids through her favorite sport: soccer. Now, dozens of migrant children have the opportunity to play with their peers through the A3FC soccer program, which also offers free meals, uniforms, and transportation.
The Balloons Over Waikato hot air balloon festival kicked off in Hamilton, New Zealand, on Tuesday. Currently in its 25th year, the five-day event features more than 20 balloons. “It’s wind. It’s fire. It’s physics,” one of the pilots, Eliot Jessep, said. “Ballooning is about freedom.”
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“The transitory nature of the seasons — the changing trees, the behavior of birds and animals, the turning of the globe, the cycle of life in one year — can also be a reminder that time passes and things heal.”
