Author: Daily Upsider

A British couple, Chris and Marianne Fisher, quit their jobs with the National Health Service and sold everything to travel the world in a campervan. Starting their journey in January 2020 in a 20-year-old Fiat Ducato van, they traveled 67,000 miles through 29 countries, building a large online following on their YouTube channel, Tread The Globe.

The couple, both in their mid-50s, sold all their belongings and rented out their home in Telford, England, to fund the trip. After leaving Britain, they reached Turkey just as COVID-19 lockdowns hit, so they became Turkish residents for 18 months before continuing their journey. They shipped their van to South Carolina and drove across the U.S., eventually making it to Canada and Alaska, where they drove the Dempster Highway to Canada’s northernmost road. Following stints across the U.S. and Mexico, they shipped their van to Japan, where they stayed for three months before heading to South Korea. Visa issues blocked them from entering China, so they went through Malaysia, Thailand, India, and Pakistan. Though they initially planned to enter Saudi Arabia, restrictions on right-hand-drive vehicles redirected them to South Africa, where they toured southern Africa before finally heading home.

Over the four and a half years of travel, they logged more than 137,000 miles in their van. The couple managed on a budget of £27 a day, capturing their travels for an audience of 180,000 subscribers and over 28 million YouTube views. Back in Telford, they were welcomed by a crowd of supporters.
Reflecting on their journey, Marianne said, “If we do nothing else in our life, we’ve done something fantastic.” Now, they’re already planning their next adventure.

New reports from the FBI and Bureau of Labor Statistics show continued declines in crime and strong job growth in the U.S.

In its final annual report covering over 94% of the U.S. population, the FBI reported that violent crime dropped nationwide last year, with murders down nearly 12% from 2022 to 2023, marking the largest decrease in decades. The number of reported rapes fell over 9%, and property crime dropped an estimated 2.4%. This data included full-year contributions from all major cities with populations over a million, though agencies like the Los Angeles Police Department did not participate. Chicago’s Police Department reported a 12.9% drop in homicides for 2023 compared to 2022. A new preliminary report shows further declines, with violent crime down 10.3% from January to June 2024, including a 22.7% drop in murders and a 13.1% decrease in property crime.

The job market also beat expectations with the addition of 254,000 new jobs in September, most of them in food services, healthcare, government, social assistance, and construction. Average hourly earnings rose 4% over the past year, well above inflation, which is now back to pre-pandemic levels at 2.5%. The Dow Jones surged on this positive economic news, closing at a record high of 42,352.

Sleep, exercise, heart rate, and mood can impact our brains for up to two weeks, according to a study by Finnish researchers. They tracked one person’s brain and behavior for five months using brain scans, wearables, and smartphones.

“We wanted to look beyond one-time events,” says lead researcher Ana Triana. “Our mental states are constantly shaped by our environment and experiences, but we know little about how brain connectivity responds over different timescales.” The study found that our brains don’t react to daily life in isolated bursts. Instead, brain activity gradually shifts in response to factors like sleep, physical activity, mood, and heart rate over days. This means a workout or poor sleep from last week could still be influencing attention, memory, and cognition today. Physical activity was shown to improve brain connectivity, potentially benefiting memory and cognitive flexibility, while mood and heart rate changes left lasting effects for up to 15 days. The study also suggests tracking brain changes in real-time could help identify neurological disorders early, especially in mental health where subtle signs are often missed.

“Linking brain activity with physiological and environmental data could change personalized healthcare, enabling early intervention and better outcomes,” concludes Triana.

A new study from the University of Chicago, published in Nature, reveals an important role of RNA in how DNA is stored and organized in cells through a gene called TET2. This finding explains why TET2 mutations are linked to various cancers and diseases. Led by Prof. Chuan He, the research team found that TET2 affects RNA rather than DNA, specifically influencing RNA packaging via methylation. This process attracts the MBD6 protein, essential for organizing chromatin (DNA packaging).

In cancers, TET2 mutations lead to chromatin dysregulation, promoting uncontrolled cell growth, especially in blood and brain cells. Targeting this pathway could provide new cancer therapies, and the team is developing drugs focused on this mechanism. Beyond cancer, TET2 mutations in older adults are associated with inflammatory conditions like heart disease and diabetes, offering potential treatment avenues to remove mutant cells before they cause harm. This study also expands our understanding of chromatin regulation, suggesting RNA modifications play a broad role in gene expression.

After nearly a century of searching, archaeologists used AI to survey the Nazca Desert in Peru, uncovering an additional 303 geoglyphs in a single study period.

Nazca’s geoglyphs remain one of anthropology’s great puzzles. Why did the Nazca culture, active around the first century BCE, carve these vast patterns of animals and human figures into the desert floor? The research team—scientists and archaeologists from Japan, France, Germany, and New York—trained their AI model with only 430 known geoglyphs, unlike medical AI that studies thousands of images. When tasked with scanning aerial photographs of the desert, the AI flagged 47,000 potential matches. The team narrowed this down to 1,309 high-potential candidates and then identified 303 new geoglyphs through field verification and drone support.

Of these 303, 178 were suggested by the AI, while 125 were discovered in the field. Notably, 66 were part of an AI-identified cluster, while 59 were found independently of AI. The purpose of the Nazca lines remains unclear. Theories suggest they could be a calendar, a ceremonial site, or have played a role in communication or ritual. The symbols, classified as either line-type or relief-type, vary significantly. Line-type geoglyphs are large, geometric, and visible only from the air, averaging about 90 meters (300 feet). Relief-types, depicting humans, heads, or animals, are much smaller, often visible from the ground.