Top News Stories: (1/17-1/23)
Here are the top stories from domestic news, world news, good news, and science and tech.
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All sources are at the end of the post.
Anti-abortion activists march in Washington, hoping it's the last time under Roe v. Wade:
Anti-abortion activists attend the annual "March for Life", in Washington, U.S., January 21, 2022. REUTERS/Leah Millis
Tens of thousands of activists gathered in Washington on Friday as part of the annual “March for Life,” with the hope that the Supreme Court may soon overturn Roe v. Wade after it has stood for half a century. Roe v. Wade is a landmark 1973 court ruling that established a woman’s legal right to terminate a pregnancy before the fetus becomes viable. In recent years Republican states have instituted legislation and policies making it harder to get an abortion, with 2021 seeing the most restrictions. Several of the Supreme Court justices have shown sympathy for a 15-week abortion law out of Mississippi that the court is expected to rule on by the end of June. Protestors also celebrate an anti-abortion law out of Texas continuing to stand despite facing legal opposition.
Hong Kong to kill 2,000 animals after hamsters get
COVID-19:
A pet store is closed after some pet hamsters were, authorities said, tested positive for the coronavirus, in Hong Kong, Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Hong Kong Authorities announced on Tuesday that they will kill over 2,000 small animals, including hamsters, after an employee was infected with COVID-19. The city also intends to stop selling hamsters and importing small animals. According to the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention, animals do not have a significant role in spreading the disease with Minks being the only known animal to have spread it to people. Despite this, Hong Kong refuses to reject the possibility that the shopkeeper was infected by hamsters. Those who ordered hamsters from the store are being required to enter quarantine and hand the hamsters over to authorities to be put down.
Rainbow Village: 84-Year-Old Saves Neighborhood From Bulldozer By Painting Every Street With Joyful Colors:
Steven Barringer/Flickr; CC license
A series of small one-story homes, Rainbow Village is now a city park where painted animals and human figures sit happily in every color imaginable upon a grid of rainbow boulevards. 14 years ago in Taiwan, an 84-year-old military veteran painted an entire government village to prevent it from being torn down. The veteran named Huang Yung Fu had started painting the occasional wall in the exceedingly drab Caihong Military Dependents’ Village in Taichung City, which was originally to relieve boredom. But when Huang learned that the ghost town he and his wife lived in was to be leveled, he kicked into artistic overdrive, covering every paving stone, gutter, and door in pictures and paint. When students from Ling Tung and Hungkuang Universities accidentally came upon the village they heard about the story that the village was planned to be leveled. Hearing this, Charles Tsai, a student at Ling Tung University, brought together students and faculty to appeal to the Taichung City Government to preserve the space. Now, the village is saved as a secret wonder where Huang Yung Fu, now known as “Grandpa Rainbow, lives to this day at the ripe old age of 98.
Dogs Can Differentiate Between Languages, Study Finds:
Enikő Kubinyi, Eötvös Loránd University
Dog brains can detect speech and show different activity patterns to familiar and unfamiliar languages, according to a new brain imaging study. This is the first demonstration that a non-human brain can differentiate two languages. In the study at Eötvös Loránd University in Hungary, 18 dog brain responses were read to see how they responded to speech and non-speech patterns. When comparing brain responses to speech and non-speech, researchers found different distinct activity patterns in dogs’ primary auditory cortex. In addition to speech detection, dog brains could also distinguish between Spanish and Hungarian. These language-specific activity patterns were found in another brain region, the secondary auditory cortex. Interestingly, the older the dog was, the better their brain distinguished between the familiar and the unfamiliar language.
Sources:
Anti-abortion activists march in Washington, hoping it's the last time under Roe v. Wade | Reuters
Hong Kong to kill 2,000 animals after hamsters get COVID-19 | AP News
Dogs Can Differentiate Between Languages, Study Finds (goodnewsnetwork.org)