BalanceJuneIssue2017 - 11

'Everything you
have ever wanted
is on the other
side of fear,'
said visionary
philosopher
George Addair.

NAT URE

GORILLAS
MISSED
If you've signed a few
petitions in recent years, you
may, like us at Balance, have
wondered why you bothered.
Hundreds of thousands of
signatures, it seems, often
don't mean a jot. Well, take
heart from Nigeria, where
officials have scrapped plans
to build a superhighway in
favour of protecting the
endangered Cross River
gorillas - and it was all
thanks to people power.
The 126-mile road would
have had six lanes and
passed through Cross River
National Park. As well as
gorillas, elephants and
chimpanzees would also
have been affected. But,
following a petition and
pressure from the Wildlife
Conservation Society (WCS),
the highway will be re-routed.
WCS' John Calvelli says:
'We did it... wildlife will be
saved.' So, think on the next
time a petition appears.

HE ALT H

SWEET
REVENGE
ENVIRONMEN T

WAX ON,
PLASTIC OFF
India is responsible for
breathtaking scenery,
lip-smacking food and some
of the finest cricketers of all
time. 'Hooray!' However, it's
also responsible for 60% of
the plastic dumped into
oceans each year. 'Oh.'
However, help is at hand
in the form of plasticguzzling worms. But can
they really solve an
environmental catastrophe?
Spanish scientist Federica
Bertocchini discovered that
waxworms can eat their way
out of a sealed plastic bag.
She says: 'One hundred
worms can biodegrade
92 milligrams of plastic in
12 hours, which is very fast.'
Research is now being
carried out to see if the
worms can be used in India.

We all know sugar is bad for
us, but that sweet, sweet
taste seems to be too hard to
resist for some. And by
'some' we mean millions.
Around 4.5 million people
in the UK now live with
diabetes, while a further
11.9 million are at risk of
developing Type 2.
As you'll know, this
life-long condition can lead
to amputation, blindness
and ultimately death.
While this doesn't scream
'good news' so far, people
with the condition are
being urged to share their
experience to inspire others
as part of Diabetes UK's
Know Diabetes, Fight
Diabetes campaign.
Coinciding with Diabetes
Week (11-17 June), the
campaign aims to raise
awareness and funds.
For more information,
visit diabetes.org.uk.

June 2017 BALANCE

WEL L BEING

BLOODY RIGHT
The next time someone tells
you off for swearing, you can
matter-of-factly tell them:
'It's actually a good thing.'
Now, we're not saying you
start swearing at your partner,
friends or family just for
kicks, but if you happen to
be trying to open a jar of
pickles or sprinting for a
bus, then swearing could
give you an extra boost.
The University of Keele's
Richard Stephens has
researched swearing and
discovered that uttering
expletives makes people
better able to tolerate pain.
Dr Stephens also found
that swearing heightens
performance. So, forget
being bitten by a radioactive
spider - swearing gives you
super powers it seems.

9
http://diabetes.org.uk
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of BalanceJuneIssue2017
