After a marathon effort to digitize each of the 7.4 million plant and fungi samples in its herbarium, the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew has said the result will help “democratize knowledge” while leveraging AI’s incredible computation power to plan conservation strategies, discover new chemicals, and more. The new archive is just one part in an […] The post 7.4 Mil. Plant and Fungi Samples Have Been Digitized to ‘Democratize Knowledge’ and Save Species appeared first on Good News Network.

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM When the afternoon heat hits, and you’ve already had six glasses of water, sometimes the last thing you want is another sip of the plain stuff. Summer is when hydration actually matters most because the heat and humidity push your body to sweat out fluids and electrolytes faster than it can keep up. There are other drinks that do the job just as well, though, and some of them are genuinely enjoyable to make and keep on hand. What dietitians recommend reaching for this summer Coconut water: nature’s electrolyte drink If you’ve been sweating through outdoor plans, coconut water is a solid first reach. Registered dietitian Alison Swiggard, MS, RDN, LD, founder of In Good Company Nutrition, explains that it naturally contains electrolytes, particularly potassium, with smaller amounts of sodium and magnesium. Those electrolytes regulate fluid balance in and around your cells, support muscle and nerve function, and replace what you lose through sweat. One 8-ounce serving has nearly 600 milligrams of potassium, about 15 percent of your daily value, according to registered dietitian Marissa Karp, MS, RD, CDN, founder of MPM Nutrition. Ways to use coconut water beyond drinking it straight You don’t have to drink it plain. Karp likes making mocktails with coconut water, sparkling water, and lime juice. You can also stir in a pinch of sodium if you want something closer to a full electrolyte replacement, which is useful after a really sweaty afternoon. Smoothies: the hydration hack you might be overlooking A smoothie is a surprisingly effective way to rehydrate, and the reason has to do with carbohydrates. Most people don’t think of carbs as a hydration tool, but Swiggard says they matter a lot: “The glucose helps support fluid absorption in the small intestine.” It’s the same logic behind oral rehydration solutions, which is why blending your water with fruit and dairy sometimes does more than drinking water alone. What to put in your summer smoothie Swiggard recommends milk or yogurt as your base, as they bring fluids, potassium, calcium, and sodium all at once. Plant-based milk, coconut water, unsweetened juice, or iced herbal tea all work too. For fruit, she likes berries, bananas, mangos, peaches, oranges, and watermelon. They blend well and contribute both fluid and carbohydrates that help your gut pull in more of what you’re drinking. Fruit-infused water: the easiest upgrade If water gets boring by mid-July, this is the lowest-effort fix. Registered dietitian Callie Krajcir, MS, RD, founder of Callie K Nutrition, explains that the fruit adds a bit of nutrition, but the main thing is simpler: people drink more when the water tastes like something. Krajcir’s go-to combinations include watermelon and mint, cucumber and lime, or strawberries and basil. Throw them in a pitcher, keep it cold, and you’ll be reaching for it all day without thinking about it. Herbal iced tea: caffeine-free and more hydrating than you’d think By August, plain water can feel like a chore. Herbal iced tea is an easy swap — it’s naturally caffeine-free, made mostly of water, and doesn’t fight your hydration goals the way caffeinated drinks can. Karp notes that depending on the variety, you may also get some antioxidants out of it. How to brew it the right way Skip the bottled stuff. Brew your own with loose tea or tea bags and go easy on the sweeteners. For more flavor, Swiggard adds a slice of citrus, some cut fruit, or a splash of juice; they contribute a bit of carbohydrate alongside vitamin C and potassium, both of which help hydration along. Homemade sports drink: better than the store-bought version After a long day outside or a tough workout, your body can use something closer to a sports drink. Commercial versions work, but they tend to carry a lot of added sugar. A homemade version takes a few minutes and does the same thing. A simple DIY recipe Karp’s formula: unsweetened juice (orange juice is her pick) mixed with water or coconut water, plus a pinch of sea salt. The sodium and natural sugars help your small intestine absorb fluid more efficiently. Add honey, maple syrup, or fresh mint or basil if you want more flavor. It’s genuinely hard to go back to the neon-colored stuff once you’ve made your own.     Did this solution stand out? Share it with a friend or support our mission by becoming an Emissary.The post 5 dietitian-approved drinks to keep you hydrated this summer first appeared on The Optimist Daily: Making Solutions the News.

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM For years, the conversation around coral reefs has been threaded with grief. Bleaching events, rising ocean temperatures, one crisis folding into the next. The reefs have become a kind of shorthand for what we stand to lose. A new global analysis is pushing back on that, and not with vague optimism, but with coordinates. Researchers have identified approximately 64,000 square miles (166,000 square kilometers) of coral reefs capable of surviving and recovering from climate change, a figure three times larger than previous estimates. The analysis drew on 45,000 coral surveys and decades of climate and ocean data, finding resilient reef systems across 71 countries and 100 territories, including parts of the Caribbean and the Pacific and Atlantic oceans not previously known for their potential. “Coral reefs are often framed as ecosystems beyond saving,” said Emily Darling, director of coral conservation at the Wildlife Conservation Society and one of the report’s authors. “This research shows otherwise: we know where the hope is, and what we need now is political will.” Why the finding matters beyond the numbers When the working assumption is that reef loss is inevitable, conservation energy tends to bleed away. There’s a logic to it: why fight for something you’ve already written off? But when you have a specific, defensible map of which reefs can make it through, that changes. Stacy Jupiter, co-author of the study and executive director of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Global Marine Program, puts it plainly: some reefs may need to be left behind so that others can be saved. For those that fall below certain benchmarks for ecosystem function, she said, the honest call is triage. “In certain cases, where reefs are below certain benchmarks for ecosystem function, it may be a case of triage, where we may need to leave those places,” she said. It’s a hard thing to say out loud. But spreading limited funds thinly across reefs that won’t recover doesn’t help the ones that will. Only 28 percent of resilient reefs are currently protected Of the newly identified climate-resilient reefs, only 28 percent fall within formally protected or conserved areas. The rest sit outside any official framework, and that’s where the research gets urgent. Countries around the world are drafting action plans under the “30 by 30” target, a global commitment to bring 30 percent of land and marine environments under formal protection by 2030. This research gives governments a scientifically grounded starting point for deciding which marine areas to include. “Only 28 percent of the reefs currently fall within protected and conserved areas, so the opportunity is clear, and so is the urgency, especially as we face an upcoming super El Niño event,” Darling said. How this research could reshape marine conservation A super El Niño event, which brings an intensified warming of Pacific Ocean temperatures, is expected in the coming years, and mass bleaching tends to follow. The reefs in this study are those most likely to survive those conditions and bounce back. Protecting them before the next warming cycle hits is the window currently open. Jupiter described the data as a tool governments can use to direct limited conservation funds where they’ll do the most. The research covers regions that hadn’t previously made it onto conservation priority lists, giving countries drawing up marine protection plans somewhere concrete to start. The dominant story about coral reefs has been one of loss. This research is a different kind of story, and it comes with a map.     Did this solution stand out? Share it with a friend or support our mission by becoming an Emissary.The post Scientists find 64,000 sq miles of climate-resilient coral reef first appeared on The Optimist Daily: Making Solutions the News.

Welcome back to our weekly behind-the-scenes glimpse at what’s getting our team talking. Tell us what you’ve been reading at info@reasonstobecheerful.world and we just might feature it here. Crunching the data When Kevin O’Leary — a.k.a. Mr. Wonderful of Shark Tank — decided to generate his next windfall by building a massive data center in Utah, he may have thought it would be smooth sailing in a business-friendly Republican state with a governor on his side. Then came the backlash. According to a story found by Editorial Director Becca Worby, residents across the region revolted, saying the data center threatened the already parched Great Salt Lake. Many vowed to vote against any incumbent who supported the project. The state’s looming elections will be watched as a sign of how opposition to data centers can impact the fates of political leaders who dare to approve projects the voters don’t want. Becca says: It’s been fascinating to see how opposition to data centers has become a unifying force. As this article notes, they “have become flash points all over the country, uniting liberals and conservatives, environmentalists and ranchers, small-government crusaders and social justice activists.” Everything on sail A year ago we wrote about the potential for carrying cargo by low-carbon sailing ships. This week, DHL, one of the world’s biggest shipping companies, announced it will start using wind-powered boats to ship trans-Atlantic freight starting next year. Described in a story shared by Executive Editor Will Doig, the three-hulled ships are 220 feet long and can carry 415 metric tons — about five times more than an airplane. And while they’re not quite as speedy as your typical cargo ship, taking around two weeks to cross the ocean, they’re far more sustainable, emitting up to 99 percent less greenhouse gas than air freight, and up to 90 percent less than conventional sea freight. Will says: Some solutions are whimsical, and some have the potential to make a real impact. With DHL getting in on the cargo sailing ship game, this one’s starting to look like it might be both. What else we’re reading  Meet the Dementia Rebels: Diagnosed and Determined to Change People’s Minds — shared by Michaela Haas from the Guardian  Just Six Beavers Riding Horseback to Their New Home — shared by Editorial Director Rebecca Worby from Instagram In other news… We’ve written about how bee hotels help pollinators keep our ecosystems healthy. This month, a reader named Christina sent us an article about a 74-year-old craftsman who has been building bee hotels since 1983. Now that he’s retiring, the final hotels are up for sale. Learn how you can get one — and why hand-crafted bee hotels are more effective than any you could buy in a store. The post What We’re Reading: The Data Center Backlash Is Uniting Americans appeared first on Reasons to be Cheerful.

Scientists all over the world are doing amazing work. They’re chasing down cures for cancer, discovering breakthroughs for Alzheimer’s Disease, and advancing green energy. Some scientists are also working on some seemingly less crucial projects, like trying to confirm the answers to age old questions. For instance, do fries stolen from someone else’s plate actually taste better? Research study puts “food theft” to the test A recent study published in the journal Food Quality and Preference noted there have been a lot of studies demonstrating how outside factors affect the taste and enjoyment of food. For example, music can make wine taste better while playing crunchy sounds can make potato chips seem more crisp. However, the researchers write, “There has been little attention on how moral transgression itself might enhance gustatory pleasure in everyday settings.” In other words, it’s commonly accepted knowledge that a bite “stolen” from a friend, family member, or maybe even a stranger is far more delicious than one from your own plate. But the phenomenon has been scarcely studied. Until now. Participants in the study Stolen fries are spicier than justice: How covert larceny enhances taste were asked to “steal” French fries from the plate of a confederate under different conditions. After the theft and consumption, volunteers were surveyed on their emotions (guilt, excitement, etc.), and on how the food tasted. The findings? Not only did “covert acquisition” increase people’s enjoyment of the fries, but the risk involved was highly correlated with stronger enjoyment. Meaning, when the confederate guarding a plate was “stern” and more watchful, the people who stole the fries reported they tasted even better. The guiltier people felt about the taking, the yummier the spoils. The Forbidden Fruit Effect explained Researchers based their hypotheses, that were largely proven correct in the study, based on the well-documented Forbidden Fruit Effect. It’s human nature. The more forbidden, taboo, or restricted something is, the more it naturally piques our curiosity and desire. It’s highly applicable to food, as seen in one study which showed that children who weren’t allowed to eat candy were far more transfixed by candy marketing. The researchers of the stolen fries study write, “Indulgence paired with mild guilt increases enjoyment more than guilt-free consumption.” Not only does the context affect our enjoyment of food, it affects the way our taste buds and brain react. The stolen French fries were perceived as saltier, crispier, and fresher when served with a side of guilt. Truffle oil fries The fascinating psychology and science of food Anybody who’s ever eaten a sandwich or savored a cup of coffee knows a few things to be true. For starters, food tastes better when made by someone else. This is just an anecdotal human truth. When a loved one makes you a sandwich, it’s objectively more delicious than if you’d made it yourself. Fascinatingly, this has also been studied scientifically, or at least tangentially. When you make a sandwich yourself, you’re imagining the end product over and over as you make it. Surprisingly, this has the effect of making the sandwich less desirable. When someone brings you a completed sandwich, not only does it pique your interest, imagination, and hunger, but its contents and makeup are a delightful little surprise. Next, some food tastes better as leftovers. Fresher is better ,but you’re not imagining things if that casserole or those muffins from a few days ago are actually peaking for you. There’s a lot of complex science involved including the breakdown of proteins and fats, moisture distribution, and starch retrogradation—all factors that can change, and improve, taste and texture. Finally, your “dessert stomach” is actually real—sort of. Most people can relate to feeling exceptionally full from dinner, yet still having room for a bit of dessert. This phenomenon has been studied in mice, and researchers have found that sugar has a unique effect: even just the anticipation of the pleasure from eating something sweet can literally trick our brains into blocking the signals that our stomach is actually full. The stolen French fries study proves that food is so much more than just the sum of its ingredients. Food is culture and community, of course, but the pleasure we take in enjoying it can vary wildly based on things like music, love, and even guilt. The post Science confirms that food stolen from someone else’s plate tastes better appeared first on Upworthy.