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Cells of People Living in Greener Areas Age More Slowly, Research Finds (Maria)
The author writes, “Many studies have shown that people living in greener neighborhoods have several health benefits, including lower levels of stress and cardiovascular disease. But new research indicates that exposure to parks, trees and other green spaces can slow the rates at which our cells age. The study, published in Science of the Total Environment, found that people who lived in neighborhoods with more green space had longer telomeres, which are associated with longer lives and slower aging.”
‘Escape Liberal Hell’: Republicans Really Are Fleeing WA (Reader Steve)
The author writes, “The idea that people would pick up and move solely for politics has seemed like a stretch. Moving for a job, schools, space, a rural lifestyle, yes. People relocate for all sorts of reasons — nearly 250,000 moved here from another U.S. state last year, with 258,000 going the other way, the Census Bureau says. But now, there’s solid evidence that some people really are migrating over partisanship.”
Trump-Era Controversies Had a Measurable Effect on Church Attendance (Dana)
From Christianity Today: “Donald Trump’s presidency accelerated the decline of church attendance in America. While the number of people going to church was already going down steadily, data from Harvard University’s Cooperative Election Study shows an ‘exogeneous shock’ in 2016, according to political scientist Ryan Burge, who specializes in the study of religious data. … Politically moderate and left-leaning evangelicals appear most impacted. A growing number seem to have felt estranged from their congregations in the Trump era.”
How Wisconsin Law Enforcement Is Being Imperiled by a Quiet Policy Change (Al)
The author writes, “At a time when law enforcement agencies throughout Wisconsin are struggling due to a recruitment crisis, a state board quietly changed a rule that is making it worse.”
The Jet Set: 200 Celebrities’ Aircraft Have Flown for Combined Total of 11 Years Since 2022 (Laura)
From The Guardian: “Private jets belonging to 200 celebrities, CEOs, oligarchs and billionaires have spent a combined total of 11 years in the air since the start of 2022. The carbon footprint of all those flights — a jaw-dropping 44,739 journeys — would be the equivalent of the total emissions of almost 40,000 Britons. The Guardian used public data to track flights by private aircraft owned or used by celebrities and businesspeople including Elon Musk, the Rolling Stones, the Murdoch family and Kylie Jenner over 21 months. The figures track the almost 300 jets belonging to those on the list and find that they emitted an estimated 415,518 tonnes of CO2.”
Ancient Redwoods Recover From Fire by Sprouting 1000-Year-Old Buds (Sean)
From Science: “When lightning ignited fires around California’s Big Basin Redwoods State Park north of Santa Cruz in August 2020, the blaze spread quickly. Redwoods naturally resist burning, but this time flames shot through the canopies of 100-meter-tall trees, incinerating the needles. … Yet many of them lived. … The charred survivors, despite being defoliated, mobilized long-held energy reserves — sugars that had been made from sunlight decades earlier — and poured them into buds that had been lying dormant under the bark for centuries.”
One Group of Creatives Has Stellar Mental Health (Reader Jim)
The author writes, “Magicians may not belong in the ‘tortured artist’ group. While mental illnesses have long been linked to creative types, a new study examining professional magicians says they’re less prone to have them.”
