From bionic breakthroughs to protected pollinators – the jollier stories you may have missed
This week has featured Blue Monday, “gritty” world news and 100mph winds. Here are three jollier stories you may have missed.
A helping hand
Scientists have made a breakthrough that allows paralysed people to move robotic arms with their minds – and to once again feel the sensation of touch in return. Bionics researchers in Sweden have implanted electrodes in the brains of patients who have since been able to “feel” textures, edges and curves. One sensation (pre-programmed) feels like reaching into an evergreen tree and being poked by a pine needle, which must be a revelation. Another task involves controlling a driving video game. There’s a long way to go but these pioneers have gone further than any previous technology – and the ultimate goal is to give some paralysed people independence. What price hope?
Reasons to bee cheerful
A pesticide that’s devastating to bees has been outlawed in the UK. Bee experts claim one teaspoon of the neonicotinoid pesticide Cruiser SB is enough to knock out 1.25 billion honeybees. Targeted at aphids, the chemical – banned in the EU – has been allowed in Britain for the past five years, using new Brexit freedoms. The problem faced by sugar beet farmers is real. So is the crisis destroying UK nature. This law change is a win for pollinators and the ecosystems that rely on them.
Pâtisserie tizzy
Lastly, in a triumph for middle-class holidaymakers, a couple who sued a French hotel over stale croissants have won damages. (Their room was also dirty and mouldy.) As the successful plaintiffs said: “Daddy will get things sorted,” and “It’s not hard to get pastries right in France.” Define Pyrrhic victory.