Hi, everyone, I'm Deema Zein.
Mars landing, blood bank
drought and gray hair reversal.
Here are five stories you may
have missed, starting with.
Mars landing.
This might look like Wall-E, but
it's actually China's Zhurong rover
roaming the landscape of
Mars. China became the second
country after the United States
to successfully land a rover on Mars
when Jurong touched down on May 14.
Now, new footage released this week gives
a glimpse of what the robot explorer has
been up to. Video clips show the
Zhurong parachute aided descend its slow
roll deployment down to the Red Planet's
surface and even a selfie, which
it took with a wireless camera it
purposely dropped before roll in a way.
Over its ninety two day mission.
Zhurong solar powered instruments
will gather data on the Red
Planet soil and atmosphere
and look for possible water ice deposits.
Sustainable Legos.
Your favorite childhood toy is turning
green, not literally, but sustainably.
Lego has announced it will begin selling
building bricks made from recycled plastic
bottles by June 2023.
Around a hundred thousand
tonnes of plastic are used
in Lego products each year.
And a one leader plastic water bottle can
produce about 10 standard Lego bricks.
That's a lot of plastic that
could get a second life.
But the new plastic bottle
formula is still being perfected.
"Sometimes it can be a
bit a bit loose still.
So we're still trying to make
sure that it can clutch properly
together."
The company also needs to
figure out how to color the gray
material to match its classic
bricks. It's all part of the
company's goal to produce all
of its plastic bricks with
sustainable materials by 2030.
Restoration roadblock.
Four years ago, Islamic State fighters
destroyed the Great Mosque of Al-Nouri
and its 12th century minaret as
they retreated from Mosul, Iraq.
Now a plan to restore the historic
site is facing controversy.
In April UNESCO announced an Egyptian firm
won a competition to restore the landmark.
But not everyone was
happy with the design.
Critics like the Iraqi Society
of Engineers say the cream
colored box like structure
betrays the architectural
heritage and history of the city.
Mosul is more traditionally known for
arches, domes, limestone exteriors
and blue accented local alabaster.
The new design includes a VIP section
for dignitaries, which critics say isn't
in tune with Islam. It also features palm
trees that aren't common in the region.
And a tiny parking lot, just 20
cars, in a city without a public
transportation system. According
to The New York Times UNESCO
associate director said
the agency will consult with local
experts to make changes to the final plan.
Blood bank drought.
A drop in supply has American
blood banks pleading for donations.
According to the American
Association of Blood Banks, most U.S.
blood banks have less than
a one day supply on hand.
Three days is normally
considered a prepared level,
and the strain on supply is
attributed to multiple factors.
Blood drives, particularly
those at businesses and
schools, have been less frequent
because of the pandemic. At the
same time, elective surgeries
postponed by the pandemic
are resuming, and we're entering the
summer high season for traffic crashes.
Both are spiking demand for blood.
If the supplies dip further, doctors could
have to re-triage patients and reschedule
surgeries to ensure enough
supply for emergencies.
But you can do your part
to help if you're able.
According to the American Red
Cross, one donation only takes
about an hour and has the
potential to save three lives.
Gray away.
Whether you're rocking a few gray hairs
or you're like me freaking out about the
discovery of your first, I
have some good news for you.
It can possibly be reversed,
at least temporarily.
A research team has found that
stress, or the lack of it, is key.
They conducted a study on people who could
provide a very particular strand of hair.
Where the tip was great, but
the route that natural color.
10 of the 14 people they analyzed had
official instances of gray hair reversal
and how? Due to the lack of stress.
The researchers compared when
a certain color of hair grew
out of the person's head to
what they were doing in life at that time.
When people were stressed,
hairs grew gray at the root.
When the stress was reduced, like by
taking a two week vacation, the natural
color started regrowing at the root.
While those already rocking a full head
of silver locks might be out of luck.
Future research on the
relationship between stress and
hair color could help delay the
gray. So, don't pluck those bad boys once
they pop up, just meditate but gray away.
For the PBS News Hour and until
next week, this is 5STORIES, have
a great weekend!
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