The RECC’E - DAY 84 | MAR 25 | PLASTIC BLOOD

Day 84 / 365

215YEARS ago today British Parliament abolished slave trade throughout the British Empire with a penalty of £120 per slave introduced for ship captains - £11,754 in today’s money.

RECC’E OF THE DAY

77%OF PARTICIPANTS in a new study were found to have “quantifiable” microplastics in their blood: the 1st time such particles have been found in human blood.

1.6MICROGRAMS in every millilitre of blood was the average level and while this is relatively low, the mere presence of microplastics - fragments of everyday items - in the bloodstream is highly significant.

50%OF PARTICIPANTS showed the presence of ‘PET’ which is commonly used to make drinks bottles, while Polystyrene was found in the blood of 36%. The long-term consequences of this are not yet known however scientists warn that as blood links all the organs of our body, if plastic is here, it could be anywhere in us.

TRACKING: UKRAINE

402kCIVILIANS - including 84k children - have reportedly been forcibly removed from Ukraine and taken into Russia in a bid to pressure Kyiv to surrender. 

140VOTES out of 193 UN general assembly members favour a resolution that makes it clear Russia is the sole cause of the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. 5 members - Russia, Syria, N.Korea, Eritrea and Belarus all voted against and 38 members including China abstained. 

4.3kHOUSES have been destroyed across Ukraine since 24th February and 4.3m children - more than half of the 7.m children in the country - have now been displaced by the war.

21MILES of towns and defensive positions east of Kyiv have been retaken by Ukrainian forces as they continue to push Russian forces back. 

15.8kRUSSIAN personnel have reportedly now been lost since the war began according to Ukrainian defence sources.  

3kTON Russian fuel tanker has been destroyed along with the Orsk, the first Russian warship to enter the port of Berdyansk which was due to be crucial in the supply chain to Russian forces.

NEED-TO-KNOW

671MILES travelled having reached an altitude of 3,853 miles North Korea’s latest missile test landing in the Sea of Japan has shocked the world as it appears to be a new type of intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). It is the first ICBM test conducted by the country since 2017 and it is also thought to be its biggest. It marks the end of a self-imposed moratorium on ICBM tests that dates back to 2018.

12MONTHS is the average age for a child’s first steps and now science has finally revealed a key piece of the signal between the brain and physical movement - dopamine; a chemical typically associated with reward. A new study has shown it slowly ramps up in a region lodged deep below the cortex and was able to closely predict the moment that mice would begin a movement — seconds into the future. The discovery shows that for every voluntary movement, dopamine has already planned the ‘go’ signal.

SHOULD-KNOW

$68bIN RECURRING revenue last year for Apple services like iCloud and Apple Music might not be the only subscriptions soon as Apple looks to the make their hardware - primarily the IPhone which earned almost 3x as much money during the same period - it’s latest subscription product. Expect 1st quarter 2023 at the earliest.

16MONTHS of talks have come to an end and the EU is ready to target big tech with sweeping new antitrust legislation. Included are measures for ‘interoperability’ between messaging giants and smaller messaging platforms. Fines of up to 20% of global annual revenue for repeated infringements are likely to make the big firms listen. 

100+CAUSES exist for chronic hiccups (CH) however research published in India has highlighted a case where the only symptom of man’s aggressive brain tumour, months before it could be diagnosed medically was in fact this debilitating form of hiccups. Typically this symptom occurs in about 4% of patients with advanced cancer but never normally in isolation and doctors are now advocating a timely diagnosis of underlying medical pathologies for CH. 

GOOD-TO-KNOW

83mPIXELS across 25 images used to create one breathtaking mosaic make up a stunning image taken 46 million miles from the sun - approximately half way between the star and Earth - showing detail of our star never seen before. The mosaic image consists of a 9,148 by 9,112 pixel grid, which is 10 times better than a 4K television.

14kNEW YORK taxi’s are going to be added to Uber’s arsenal as its finally announced the famous Yellow Cabs will now run through the transportation giant; rides will cost around the same as an UberX but unlike their current drivers, NY’s cabs will be able to see a trip price upfront and will have the option to confirm or reject it.

 

SIGN-OFF STAT

3YEARS, 2 months and 1 day is the time it took between the first tweet and the billionth; it now averages 200bn a year.

  

   

WE’LL SEE YOU MONDAY MORNING, HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND.

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