EDITORIAL: Curb pollution, live longer

A group of adults chatting  in a residential neighbourhood create an impression of a happy lot; so do energetic children playing hide-and-seek. Behind the veneer are many sick people, victims of ailments like pneumonia and numerous other respiratory illnesses caused by emissions from charcoal and wood used in indoor cooking. Gradually, the erstwhile healthy people become critically ill, some of whom end up dying!

One of the things that many first-time visitors to Western countries find very strange – part of the culture shock experience – is their hosts’ revulsion for loud noise.

>Tanzanian towns and cities are choked, not only by garbage; it is choked by noise too. Noise from music bars, partying households, nightclubs, motorbike taxis (bodaboda)… you name it.    That is called noise pollution. It is bad enough that bar patrons, who should be enjoying themselves, have to contend with sound levels that threaten to burst eardrums.

Tanzania might have found the solution to plastic waste, now that there is a push to use it to construct buildings and make school desks. A Spain-based non-governmental organisation, Born-to-learn, is already spearheading the use of plastic construction materials in Kilimanjaro Region.

New Study Looks into Why Females Live Longer than Males  VOA NewsMammal study explains 'why females live longer'  BBC NewsScientists investigate why females live longer than males  HeritageDailyData analysis shows nonhuman female mammals also live longer than males  Phys.orgIt's not just humans: Female animals live longer than males by an average of 18.6 per cent  Daily MailView Full coverage on Google News

Among wild mammals too, most females live longer than males  Tech ExploristIt's not just humans: Female animals live longer than males by an average of 18.6 per cent  Daily MailLike humans, most female mammals live longer than males, study finds  CNNView Full coverage on Google News

>Here’s some good news for gents who may have been robbed of a few inches in height: A new study shows that shorter men may live longer. In fact, according to data culled from researchers out of the University of Hawaii, the taller the men, the shorter they lived.

>The Tanzanian shilling is in very bad shape, so much that some analysts describe it figuratively as a currency that is in its death throes. It is cause for concern for us all, for it pains that while you could have purchased a dollar at around Sh600 in the late 1990s, you have to cough up Sh2,000 today for a single greenback.

>Tanzania is endowed with abundant natural resources, which include land, water, forage and a large livestock resource base. Out of the total 94 million hectares of land area, 24 million are used for grazing.