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Did you know? The earliest form of ice cream dates back to ancient Persia, where people enjoyed a frozen treat made from rose water and vermicelli mixed with saffron and fruits! 🍦 

Economy

Credit Report Overhaul

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has introduced a new rule to shield consumers from the negative credit impacts of medical debt. This landmark decision removes $49 billion in medical bills from credit reports, benefiting around 15 million Americans. Additionally, the rule prohibits lenders from using medical information when making lending decisions, ensuring fairer access to credit.

The CFPB's findings revealed that medical debt is an unreliable measure of a borrower’s ability to repay loans, as it often arises from involuntary or unforeseen healthcare expenses. Credit scoring giants FICO and VantageScore have already minimized the influence of medical debt on credit scores. In tandem, major credit reporting agencies—Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion—are collectively removing $50 billion in medical debt from their reports, further aligning with the push for fairness.

This rule is expected to have far-reaching benefits, including an estimated 22,000 additional affordable mortgages approved annually. Consumers impacted by the change may see average credit score increases of 20 points, providing them with improved financial opportunities. CFPB Director Rohit Chopra emphasized the significance of this reform, stating, “People who get sick shouldn’t have their financial future upended.”

Earth Sciences

Treasures of the Sky

Seeing individual stars halfway across the universe was once thought impossible, like trying to spot grains of dust on the Moon with binoculars. However, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has made this possible, changing how we study the universe.

Using data from JWST and the effect of gravitational lensing, astronomers identified 44 individual stars in a galaxy 6.5 billion light-years away, from a time when the universe was half its current age. Gravitational lensing, first described by Einstein, magnifies light from faraway objects, allowing sensitive instruments like JWST to detect them. The study, led by Yoshinobu Fudamoto of Chiba University and published in Nature Astronomy, shows how this technique can help us better understand stars in distant galaxies.

This discovery depended on a rare combination of gravitational microlensing, caused by stars in the cluster Abell 370, and macrolensing, created by the cluster’s dark matter. Together, these effects briefly brightened the stars enough to make them visible. As co-author Nicholas Foo explained, “Stars appeared and disappeared from image to image like fireflies,” showing the potential of this method to study how galaxies and their stars formed and evolved over time.

Environment

The Most Invasive Species

The water hyacinth, often seen in ornamental ponds, is one of the world’s most invasive species, causing significant harm to freshwater ecosystems like Kenya’s Lake Naivasha. Its rapid spread devastates native species, disrupts local fishing, and impacts livelihoods. In response, the UN has launched programs to control this persistent plant.

HyaPak Ecotech Limited is addressing the problem by transforming the invasive plant into biodegradable plastic alternatives. When the water hyacinth overruns Lake Naivasha, choking fish populations and trapping fishermen, HyaPak incentivizes locals to harvest it. The collected plants are dried, processed, and converted into eco-friendly products like straws, wrappers, and seedling bags. To date, locals have cleared 47 acres of hyacinth, helping restore the lake’s ecosystem while earning additional income.

The initiative, founded by Joseph Nguthiru, was inspired by his own experience of being stranded in the hyacinth on Lake Naivasha for five hours. Around the same time, Kenya’s ban on single-use plastics created a need for sustainable alternatives. HyaPak has since partnered with Kenya’s Forestry and Land Restoration Acceleration program to produce biodegradable seedling bags for the government’s 15-billion tree planting initiative. These bags decompose naturally, enriching soil and conserving water. HyaPak is now exporting its products to the US and Germany, with plans to expand to India and El Salvador, turning a harmful invasive species into a resource that benefits both the environment and local communities.

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Mind Stretchers

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Answers to yesterday’s Mind Stretchers:

I’m often in a bottle, but never for drink, I can ease your pain or make you think. I come in many forms, some large, some small, But only when needed, I’ll answer your call. What am I? —medicine, Debbie Ettinger got this correct early! ☀️ 

The first to send us the correct answer for today’s mind stretcher for a shout-out with the answer tomorrow. Just send us the answer and your name to [email protected] or reply to the email.

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