It’s the time of year for comfort reading. The equinox has come and gone, there’s more night than day now in the northern hemisphere, there’s a nip in the air, leaves on the ground, and the UK and parts of Europe look headed for another lengthy period of retrenchment as the Covid-19 pandemic resurges.
But fear not, because the Upside will not be cowed by a pesky strand of RNA. The human spirit is infinitely stronger than the body. Whether things are “good” or “bad” merely depends on how you think, who you listen to, what you read.
So this week, we have the following Upside gems for you:
• Norway’s friluftsliv: an answer to surviving new Covid restrictions? Three minutes of fresh air
• More than 150 countries agree vaccine distribution deal. Two-minute read
• The dogs that can detect coronavirus. Four-minute sniff
• The African dance craze bringing joy to a troubled world. Two-minute jig
• The Britons who work from home – abroad. Three-minute read
• Hutting: a new way of life for Scotland? Two-minute read
• A new British foundation for public interest journalism. 90-second read
• Aquatherapy: a community rebuilds after the fire. Three-minute read
I’d be interested to know this: if you read one or more of the above, did they make you feel better, more even-tempered, a bit more sanguine about the future – or just as anxious as ever? Do let us know in the usual fashion.
Lucky numbers
China’s carbon emissions will peak in the next decade, and reach net zero by 2060, according to Xi Jinping. Oh, and the cost of battery packs for electric vehicles has fallen more than 80% over the past decade.
Meanwhile, several US states are starting to see bee colonies grow. In Maine, numbers are up more than 70% over the past two years. Aren’t bees just great?
What we liked
From the Reasons to be Cheerful project that the Upside is participating in, we read to the bottom of this piece about a man turning his life around after 13 years in a US prison …
… and also this, about the Congolese of New York, using theatre to put aside festering tribal enmities.
Elsewhere, we are mildly intrigued at Nasa’s plans to return to the moon by 2024 – and this time there will be a woman taking a giant leap for womankind …
And finally, we were hugely encouraged by a new study that found older people are physically and mentally stronger than their counterparts from 30 years ago.
What we heard
Johnny Hughes was in touch from Dublin on the subject of instilling greater carbon awareness in people.
How about an official app available to all citizens whereby everybody can find out their carbon footprint and get a breakdown of its contents and excesses. This would normalise and unify personal awareness of carbon footprint. In the medium term another aim would be to further engage politicians on an individual level in climate breakdown. Politicians are obliged to declare their financial involvements, why not their personal carbon footprints as well? It is now, self-evidently, as pertinent an issue in the democratic process and of engaging concern at the ballot box.
Remarkably, Johnny, I think these apps already exist. Getting people to use them might be harder …
Where was the Upside?
On a knitted bus, of all places, which is touring the streets of the UK to combat loneliness among the elderly. The vehicle, dressed in knitwear produced all round the country, will tour care homes and residential streets, delivering magazines and, er, knitted bunting, and raising funds for anti-loneliness charity Re-engage. We say that’s quilt fantastitch.
