Happy April! 🌞

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter holiday yesterday!

As most of you all probably know, Easter is considered the holiest day by Christians and celebrates the resurrection.

Something you might not have know is that the Orthodox Church uses a different calendar to calculate holidays. For the Orthodox Church, Easter can fall from anywhere between April 4th and May 8th. This year it will fall on May 5th.

Because of the fluid nature of both Easters, the date will actually fall on the same day 31 times throughout the 21st century.

Innovation

Shocking New Test: The Woman Who Can Smell Disease

Joy Milne, a retired nurse from Perth, Scotland, possesses the remarkable ability to detect Parkinson’s disease through smell. Her husband exhibited an unusual odor around his shoulders and neck long before his formal diagnosis.

This later led Joy to recognize the distinct smells association with the condition when she later identified the same scent at a Parkinson’s support group. This unique skill caught the attention of scientists, prompting the development of a skin swab test by researchers at Manchester University.

The test, which analyzes sebum from the patient's back, demonstrated an impressive 95% accuracy in trials. Researchers identified 500 different compounds in the sebum samples, differentiating those with Parkinson’s from the control group. Currently, no chemical test exists for Parkinson’s, resulting in lengthy waiting lists for neurological consultations.

Professor Perdita Barran, leading the research, envisions the potential for these tests to be implemented in general practitioners' offices, offering quick diagnoses within three minutes. Efforts are underway to transition the test from research labs to hospital analytical labs, with hopes to begin testing individuals in the Manchester area within two years.

The fact that Joy can smell Parkinson’s is rather shocking. The fact that they have used that to help create a whole new type of test is just incredible.

Culture

How Dead is Latin?

Latin is the mother of many languages now spoken today. It is also a dead language. But how dead is it?

Can a man speaking Latin be understood by native Italian speakers that have no knowledge of Latin?

Check out this fascinating video exploring just that question using both ecclesiastical Latin and reconstructed classical Latin.

World News

Dubai Company Turns Used Cooking Oil to Biofuel

Lootah Biofuels, a Dubai-based company, is producing biodiesel from used cooking oil, introducing a fascinating new sustainable transportation solution.

This initiative results in a cost-effective, renewable, and environmentally friendly fuel alternative. The company has expanded its presence with fuel outlets across Dubai, with an annual production capacity of 60 million liters.

Yousif Bin Saeed Al Lootah conceptualized this project with the aim of making the UAE the first nation in the region to require biofuel blends at public fuel stations.

By offering payment for collected used cooking oil, Lootah Biofuels incentivizes providers such as restaurants, bakeries, and food chains, who contribute 500,000 liters of waste oil monthly.

Last year, the company converted this waste oil into 770 tons of biofuel.

According to the Lootah Biofuels website, used cooking oil boasts the highest carbon saving ratio among all biodiesel feedstocks, resulting in an estimated reduction of 500 million tons of CO2 emissions to date.

Environment

Back from the Brink of Extinction

The bald eagle, once teetering on the brink of extinction, has made a remarkable recovery across North America. This iconic bird, a symbol of freedom and strength, has rebounded from precarious lows thanks to concerted efforts spanning decades.

Bald eagles used to span the entire continental US. However, by the mid-20th century, the bald eagle population faced severe threats from habitat destruction, hunting, and the widespread use of DDT, a pesticide that weakened eggshells and decimated reproduction rates. By the 1960s, the bald eagle was in danger of extinction, with fewer than 500 nesting pairs remaining in the contiguous United States.

The tide began to turn with the banning of DDT in 1972 in the US and 1973 in Canada, following mounting evidence of its harmful effects on wildlife. This critical step, combined with the bald eagle's listing under the Endangered Species Act in 1973, set the stage for recovery. These legal protections made it illegal to harm or disturb bald eagles and their habitats, providing a much-needed safeguard for the remaining populations.

Conservation efforts intensified, focusing on habitat preservation and rehabilitation of injured birds. Public education campaigns raised awareness about the importance of protecting this majestic species. Together, these actions created a foundation for the bald eagle’s comeback.

Today, the bald eagle’s resurgence is hailed as a conservation triumph. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that there are now more than 71,400 breeding pairs of bald eagles in the lower 48 states, a stunning rebound from their historical lows.

My YouTube recommended me this video a few days ago, very fitting for this topic. It also gives you an idea of how big these magnificent birds can get.

Mind Stretchers 

⁉️ 

Why is everyone so tired on April 1?

The answer to yesterday’s Mind Stretcher was:
A Calendar 📆 

Linda Runatz got the answer first!

Be 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 this email.

If you have any uplifting stories and experience you might want to share, send those over to [email protected] for the chance to be featured.