Many who live on the West Coast have experience handling wildfires and the ensuing smoke during peak season (June through October). But this summer, the Midwest and East Coast have also been facing diminished air quality due to a particularly bad Canadian wildfire season. Learn how to protect yourself from wildfire smoke, wherever you live.
Preventative Screenings Are Catching More Early-Stage Colon Cancer in Younger Adults
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In 2018, the American Cancer Society lowered the recommended age for colon cancer screenings from 50 to 45. Seven years later, a new study suggests this change is already making a difference, with earlier detection giving patients a vital head start in treating the disease when it’s most manageable — often before symptoms even appear. Here are the stats: From 2019 to 2023, screenings increased by 62% among U.S. adults aged 45 to 49. And early-stage cancer cases rose by 12% annually between 2019 and 2022 for that same age group, a significant uptick compared to the 1.1% annual bumps seen from 2004 to 2019. The key phrase here is “early-stage”: National Cancer Institute data showed that more than 90% of people treated at this stage for colorectal cancer were alive five years post-diagnosis. “The uptick of cases is likely due to first-time screening in the wake of new recommendations for younger average-risk adults to begin testing for colorectal cancer earlier,” lead study author Elizabeth Schafer explained in a news release, noting this is “promising news.”
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These Paddleboarding Pups Are Helping Protect Australia’s Elusive Platypuses
Zoos Victoria
You’ve heard of working dogs, and you’ve heard of paddleboarding dogs. But what about working paddleboarding dogs? At an animal sanctuary in Victoria, Australia, some impressive pups clock in by hopping on a board — their mission: helping conserve the area’s vulnerable platypuses. Exceptionally well-equipped for such an assignment, the canines use their noses to sniff out the elusive species and their burrowing systems. In doing so, they’re aiding scientists in tracking and learning about the platypus population around a creek that flows through Healesville Sanctuary. Having dogs search for the duck-billed mammals isn’t a new practice at Healesville, but having them do so while waterborne is. This year, two detection dogs — Moss the Labrador and Kip the Kelpie — began testing the boards for reaching otherwise hard-to-access locations, earning them the nickname “the paddle pups.” Watch them at work.
Science
What’s the Difference Between “Stuff” and “Things”? Our Brains Know
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File this under questions you probably never thought to ask: How do we know the difference between “things” we can grip (solid, rigid objects) and “stuff” that would slip right through our fingers (flowing materials like liquids and sand)? The credit goes to the brain’s visual cortex, according to a recent study. MIT researchers found the human brain differentiates between “things” and “stuff” through distinct specialized neural regions: the ventral visual pathway, which is responsible for recognizing the shapes of 3D objects, and the dorsal visual pathway, which assesses physical properties such as mass and stability. For the study, researchers scanned participants’ brains as they watched videos of various materials. They found that subregions in each pathway reacted more strongly to either things or stuff. “We haven’t seen this before because nobody has asked that before,” lead author Vivian Paulun said in a statement. The distinction between the two categories not only enables us to identify what we see but also guides how we interact with the lived environment. “With a rigid object, you might pick it up or grasp it, whereas with fluid or gooey stuff, you probably are going to have to use a tool to deal with it,” said senior author Nancy Kanwisher.
In Other News
The Gates Foundation pledged $2.5 billion to advance research on women’s health across the globe (read more)
In LA, architects are competing to have theiraffordable housing designs brought to life (read more)
A long-necked marine reptile that lived up to 184 million years ago was discovered by paleontologists (read more)
Meet Japan’s oldest living person, a 114-year-old retired doctor and former Olympic torch bearer (read more)
Scientists have long wondered why billions of starfish died in an epidemic — now, they finally have an answer (read more)
Join the Nice Book Club
We’ve all gone through periods of feeling stuck — maybe stuck in relationships, routines, or self-doubt. But you can rewrite the script to get out of those ruts, and Case Kenny’s book The Opposite of Settling is the ultimate guide to doing just that. At the next Nice Book Club on Aug. 21, join us for a special conversation with Case, in which the author will dive into the empowering ideas behind The Opposite of Settling, sharing how to raise your standards, trust your intuition, and create the life you truly want.
Marian Griffin, 80, and her older brother, Donald Hefke, 81, recently reunited after being separated as babies, thanks to DNA testing and ancestry research. “I still can’t believe he found me,” Griffin said. “It only took us 80 years.” Read their heartwarming story.
Photo of the Day
Christian Vierig/Getty Images
There’s no shortage of fashionistas strutting their stuff at Copenhagen Fashion Week, on and off the runway. Scroll through some of the street styles turning heads, including polka dots, ruffles, and pops of color.
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