Suicides fall as gay marriage is legalised, rediscovery of lost mouse-deers, successful four-day working week trial

Photo: Yoko Correia Nishimiya / Unsplash (CC0)

In this issue of Squirrel News we have suicide rates plummeting since the legalisation of gay marriage, a lost species of mouse deer have been rediscovered, and a company trialling a four day working week shows impressivee results in morale, happiness and productivity.

Suicide rates of those in same-sex unions falls by 46% after gay marriage is legalised

Since marriage rights were extended to include LGBT+ couples in Sweden and Denmark, suicide rates have almost halved among those in same-sex unions

Source: The Guardian

Lost for a generation, a small group of fanged mouse-deers have been spotted in a Vietnamese forest

The tiny silver-backed chevrotains have been photographed by camera traps for the first time in over thirty years

Source: National Geographic

A FTSE 100 company trial of a four-day working week shows a 40% increase in productivity

In a bid to eradicate Japan’s infamous corporate culture, the company’s experiment resulted in happier employees, higher morale, and a drastic improvement in labour productivity

Source: Japan Times

Scientists in India develop a low-cost landslide-detecting sensor for use on smartphones

The cheap technology is currently undergoing trials in over twenty locations and could potentially save thousands of lives.

Source: BBC News

The Japanese prefecture of Fukushima is reinventing itself as a renewable energy hub

After being devastated by a 2011 tsunami and subsequent nuclear power plant meltdown, the region has chosen to redefine itself as a pro-environment nerve centre

Source: Inhabitat

Support and provision of safe environments for LGBT+ students in Japanese universities gains traction

Faculty and alumni groups aim to challenge negative perceptions of marginalised communities and promote discussion and understanding around LGBT+ rights

Source: Japan Times

Italy becomes the first country to make climate change education in its schools mandatory

Following new legislation, Italian students will be required to attend a least one hour of lessons per week centred on global warming and the climate crisis

Source: New York Times

At-risk indigenous langauges are being preserved by a wave of new films written in native tongues

Although the aim of such projects was initially to document such dialects for historical purposes, there has been a sharp increase in linguistic engagement from the general population, with new life being breathed into these languages as a result.

Source: New Yorker

University of California researchers develop tiny artificial sunflowers which could potentially harvest solar energy

The so-called SunBOTS are less than a millimetre wide and automatically bend towards light

Source: New Scientist

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