WHAT IN THE WORLD

Retirement Homes For Bees

UNITED KINGDOM

The world’s first bee retirement home has launched. Honeysuckle Beetirement Home, created out of recycled doll houses, is a safe environment for bees to live in and pollinate. It includes rooms packed with pollenfilled flowers, a sugar-water fountain for energy, tiny armchairs and a place for the hard-working creatures to relax. Flower delivery service, Flying Flowers, created these sanctuaries to raise awareness about our reliance on bees and their declining population.

—Country Living

Record Low Smoking Rates

NEW ZEALAND

There has been a positive shift for Pasifika youth as daily smoking rates have dropped to less than two per cent for the first time in Aotearoa New Zealand. Smoking rates were at 5.3 per cent in 2017, but fell to 1.2 per cent in 2022. The number of Pasifika smokers is at an all-time low, which is a huge achievement for the community.—Pacific Media Network

HOW ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS CHANGING THE WORLD (FOR THE BETTER)

Personalised Health

AI will enable doctors and hospitals to analyse data better and customise health care plans to each patient’s genes, environment and lifestyle. It will also be able to pick up on things like tumours and cancers at an earlier stage.

Lower Crime Rates

Police forces around the world are testing AI systems that could help lower crime rates. This includes facial recognition technology and systems to make decisions about bail by predicting the likelihood of someone committing other offences.

New Retirement Plan

AI will help older people stay independent and live in their own home longer by monitoring movement in their home, mowing lawns, washing windows, cooking healthy meals and helping with bathing and hygiene.

Emotional Assistance

Eco Dog

UNITED KINGDOM

3d Firearms

AUSTRALIA

More Australians are receiving charges for possessing illegal 3D firearms, such as rifles, machine guns and handguns. While these guns do not work as well as traditional guns, rapid improvements pose a big threat to community safety. They can be built without a serial number and are not picked up by metal detectors. Investigations are underway to deal with gun manufacturing.

—The Conversation

A 13-year-old border collie named Scruff stopped fetching sticks one day and took an interest in plastic bottles. Upon finding one he would pick it up, play with it, then drop it in front of his owners. At the end of each week they take all the bottles to get recycled and post his clean-up adventures online under the hashtag #scruffsbottlepatrol. In 2022, Scruff collected more than 1000 bottles. His owners expect him to collect many more in 2023.—The Telegraph

By detecting body language, facial expressions, tone of voice and lifestyle changes, AI can identify signs of deteriorating mental health before it gets too severe. Data scientists say it will be capable of offering emotional support and give helpful solutions to reduce depression and suicide rates.

Disability Support

AI will enable people with disabilities to step into a world where they have more freedom, with learning experiences that can be tailored to an individual’s specific needs, apps to help blind people “see” people’s emotion, tools to support physical accessibility and devices that can identify visual impairments so treatment can begin before the disorders cause blindness.