Engineers have Developed a Nanofiber that Performs Like a Muscle
Researchers at the University of Texas and Penn State University were trying to make membranes for water filtration, but the structures they made were too long – stretching out like muscle tissue. The researchers then shifted focus to develop nanofibers that can used in robotics and prosthetic limbs. This article came from my 1440 Daily Digest.
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Israel and United Arab Emirates Reach a Trade Agreement
Israel and the United Arab Emirates signed a free trade agreement last week. The agreement is the latest product of the two countries’ historic normalization deal in 2020 known as the Abraham Accords. CNBC has details.
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Donating Breastmilk
Breastfeeding can be a little challenging at first. So can pumping. New mom Lucie Fink shared about her journey and how to donate breast milk on TikTok. Here’s more from CNN Heroes.
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Bystanders Rush to Help in Vehicle Accident
When a man and woman on a motorcycle were hit from behind, good Samaritans rushed to help.
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Personal Update:
My husband David is feeling better after testing positive for covid five days ago. He was sleeping a lot but has more energy this morning. I got a negative test result on a home test a few minutes ago. That’s no guarantee of course, and we’re still keeping our distance.
“Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “run.” Use it as a noun, a verb, use it any way you’d like. Enjoy!”
“RUN Forest, RUN!” was the first thing I thought of. I’ve watch Forest Gump how many times? At least 20, but who’s counting? It’s on tonight, and I might watch it again. Okay, I don’t really watch the whole thing every time. I’m also on the computer, or doing laundry….. but I’ll pay attention to my favorite parts, like when Forest and Jenny meet in Washington and everybody cheers when Forest in his army uniform embraces the hippie chick in the cement pond. If you want to just watch the reunion embrace, go to 3 minutes into this video:
Forest Gump is a movie about many things and has great music. In the beginning, Jenny tells Forest to run from the bullies so he doesn’t get beat up. Later, she tells him to run to save his life when he’s about to go to Vietnam, where he does run but also becomes a hero saving his buddies who don’t all make it.
Sometimes it’s good to run or avoid bullies. I admit that avoiding conflict is my default fault. Though why not avoid unnecessary conflict? Still, there are times when we need to face conflict with courage. There are times when we need to stand up for ourselves or someone else whether it’s a helpless animal, a child, or someone being harassed.
I recently read an article my friend shared on FB about what a bystander can do when witnessing harassment. (I had to type that word three times before it came out right.) The following article contains options about what a bystander can do when someone else is being harassed. It has something called the five Ds. (As an aside, there are four Ds for quitting smoking or other addictions: Distract, Delay, Drink Water, Do something else. I know it’s not that simple.)
The five Ds of intervention if we are a bystander go something like this:
Direct Intervention (after assessing for safety)
Distract by engaging the targeted person supportively
Delegate by enlisting help from a third party
Delayed response (this could also be debriefing)
Document
Okay, that’s five Ds. As you might guess, I broke out of the stream of consciousness for a brief period to go the article, but only because this is important. I can imagine being supportive of the person who is targeted easier than I can directly addressing the harasser. But I hope if I’m ever in this situation, I can be courageous and safe at the same time.
I guess Jenny’s “Run Forest, Run!” is somewhere between direct intervention and distraction. Now I wish I’d shared the video of Forest and Jenny here, because I like to end on a happy note. Well, you can always go back and watch the end of the video again. 🙂
Or you can watch this video of happy animals playing, running, and Jumping:
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For more streams of consciousness, rules and guidelines, run on over to Linda’s blog:
New research confirms my belief that the larger the crowd, the more potential helpers there are. “The study finds that in nine out of 10 incidents, at least one bystander intervened, with an average of 3.8 interveners.” The abstract from American Psychologist stated that “typically several” people will help. The old “bystander effect” myth was apparently started by research done in a laboratory and possibly reports of unfortunate but exceptional incidents. The new study used data from surveillance videos of arguments or assaults in the three large and diverse cities of Amsterdam, Cape Town, and Lancaster, England and found no significant differences in helping between these cities.
It suggests that people are willing to self-police to protect their communities and others. That’s in line with the research of urban criminologist Patrick Sharkey, who finds that stronger neighborhood organizations, not a higher quantity of policing, have fueled the Great Crime Decline.
“An 83-year-old Muslim cleric who hid 262 Christians (and Muslims) in his home and mosque during an attack in central Nigeria” was honored Wednesday in Washington. The Imam, Abubakar Abdullahi, < (click his name for a moving interview) along with four religious leaders from Sudan, Iraq, Brazil and Cyprus, were awarded the 2019 the International Religious Freedom Award. Here’s the story from CNN.
“God had a reason for creating us as diverse humans. No one has a reason to question the existence of the other. If God had wanted otherwise, he would have created us the same. We must embrace the diversity that God has created and strive to live in peace with each other everywhere in the world…. God wants us to live together in peace…. We should all respect one another. Follow the rules and be selfless advocates for peace.”
Imam, Abubakar Abdullahi
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On the Trail
Melanie was born with spina bifida and uses a wheelchair to get around. Trevor became blind recently due to glaucoma. They both live in Colorado and met in an adaptive adaptive boxing class. What a wonderful adventure it must have been to realize they could hike together as a team! She’s the eyes; he’s the legs. Check it out!
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Anything is Possible! 