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news1
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Beer is made from wheat. Cider is made from apples. Wine is made from grapes. And Japanese sake is made from rice.
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Well, that's mostly true. But a new type of sake will soon be on sale that is made not from rice, but from trees.
A way to make alcohol from wood has been created by Japan's Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute.
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The wood is then mixed with water. Enzymes are added to release sugar from the wood, and yeast is added to ferment the sugary mix into sake.
How the sake tastes depends on the wood that is used, with different types of tree having very different flavors. At least one Japanese company is planning to sell sake made from cedar trees by 2025.
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Well, Japan has a lot of trees. Almost 70% of the country is covered by forest — but forestry in Japan has some problems.
Around 40% of Japan's forests were planted after World War II to supply wood for construction. However, wood from other countries is now often cheaper. As a result, many Japanese forests have been left unused and haven't been looked after.
To keep a forest healthy and prevent fires, it needs to be thinned out by taking out smaller trees. But the wood from smaller trees was not very useful — until now.
Now, sake can be made using wood produced by thinning the forests. It's a new product that could reduce wood waste, help create healthier forests and bring new life to forestry in Japan.
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news3
Stress, COVID Cause Steep Rise in Sick Leave in UK
Stress at work, rising prices and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have caused a steep rise in sick leave in the UK, according to a report by the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development (CIPD).
Survey data gathered in March and April 2023 showed that employees took an average of nearly eight days of sick leave — time off work due to illness — in one year.
The average time off for sick leave hit the highest level in more than 10 years, rising from about six days per year before the pandemic, according to the survey by the CIPD and Simplyhealth, an insurance company.
The survey looked at 918 private sector and public sector organizations employing more than 6.5 million people.
The results showed that 76% of employee absences were linked to stress, which was a cause of both short and long sick leave.
Mental health difficulties were the biggest cause of long absences from work, while COVID caused 37% of short absences.
Rachel Suff, an expert on employee well-being at the CIPD, said the rise in absences was "a worry."
"External factors like the COVID-19 pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis have had profound impacts on many people's well-being," she said.
In a separate survey, the CIPD asked over 5,000 employees questions on well-being, relationships at work, and support from managers.
Sixty percent of employees said they sometimes or often feel under heavy pressure at work, while 65% said they sometimes or often feel exhausted.
However, more than half of the employees said they had sometimes worked despite feeling ill — up from 46% in the 2022 survey.
news2
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The 2030 men's soccer World Cup is set to feature games in six countries on three continents in a unique format that will allow the tournament to celebrate its 100th anniversary in Uruguay.
FIFA reached an agreement on October 4 between soccer's continental leaders to accept a bid by co-hosts Spain, Portugal and Morocco. The agreement also includes having games in South American countries Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, which had also earlier promoted a co-hosting bid.
Those three countries will each host one match to start the tournament, scheduled for June-July 2030, which allows FIFA to stage the opening game in the Uruguayan capital of Montevideo, where the Centenario Stadium hosted the first 1930 World Cup final.
All six host nations will get automatic entry to the 48-team tournament, FIFA said. It is the first time the World Cup will be played on more than one continent.
After the opening game in Uruguay, matches will be held in Argentina and Paraguay — which FIFA brands as "Centenary Celebration Matches" — before the action moves to the main host nations Spain, Portugal and Morocco.
The plan involves an unprecedented amount of travel across distances and time zones, including 13-hour flights from Buenos Aires to Madrid.
Fan group Football Supporters Europe criticized the decision as bad for supporters and the environment.
The FIFA Council's acceptance of the plan for 2030 still needs formal approval next year at a meeting of the 211 member federations. But that should be just a formality.
Spain previously hosted the 1982 World Cup, Argentina was the 1978 host and Uruguay had the first 1930 tournament. Portugal, Morocco and Paraguay will be first-time hosts.
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FIFA has also opened bidding for the 2034 World Cup, with only member federations from Asia and Oceania eligible to bid for the hosting rights. Saudi Arabia immediately entered that contest and Australia is also interested.
news4
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Psilocybin, a psychedelic drug found in "magic mushrooms," is now legally available in the US state of Oregon. Demand for the drug is high and many hope that Oregon's legalization will start a revolution in mental health care.
Epic Healing Eugene — America's first licensed psilocybin service center — opened in June, and now has a waitlist of more than 3,000 names, including people with depression, PTSD or end-of-life fear.
While psilocybin remains illegal in most of the United States, the Food and Drug Administration in 2018 designated it a "breakthrough therapy." Researchers believe psilocybin changes the way the brain organizes itself, helping a user adopt new attitudes and overcome mental health issues.
The Oregon Psychiatric Physicians Association, however, opposed Oregon's legalization of psilocybin, saying it "is unsafe and makes misleading promises to those Oregonians who are struggling with mental illness."
Angela Allbee manages the Oregon Psilocybin Services Section which regulates the state's psilocybin industry and she says her agency is focused on safety.
First, customers must have a preparation session with a licensed facilitator who stays with clients as they experience the drug. The clients can't buy mushrooms to go, and they must stay at the service center until the drug wears off.
Oregon voters made psilocybin legal in 2020, but Oregon Psilocybin Services spent two years establishing regulations before accepting license applications in January. There are now 10 licensed service centers, four growers, and two testing labs.
One of the first clients to take psilocybin at Epic Healing Eugene said he had an experience of "dying and being reborn" that "was not particularly pleasant," but that beneficially transformed how he views painful memories.
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Colorado voters last year chose to allow regulated use of psychedelic mushrooms starting in 2024, and California this month approved a measure that would allow possession and use of certain psychedelics, including psilocybin and mescaline, with plans for health officials to develop guidelines for therapeutic use.