🌞 The Aussie town printing homes

Happy Sunday!

Before we dive into the uplifting headlines of the week, here’s something wild: Greenland sharks can live for over 500 years. That means there are sharks swimming around today that were born before Shakespeare wrote a single play.

Why share this? Because the world is full of surprises — and not all of them are scary. In fact, this newsletter is proof that good things are happening all the time, even if they don’t make front-page news.

So sit back, relax, and enjoy your weekly wrap of hopeful, wholesome, and happy news from around the globe! ✨

🩺 Free check-ups in Poland

Ever put off a visit to the doctor’s office? Chances are that you have. A 2024 study found that 15% of patients aged 25–34 here in Australia are holding off on a visit to their GP due to cost.

That’s why I thought I’d start by highlighting some good news in this space. Poland has launched a new healthcare program that will give adults access to free checkups. The initiative is hoped to lead to better disease screening rates and early intervention care.

The policy aims to encourage all Polish citizens over 20 to seek healthcare, regardless of their financial situation.

In a statement on X, the National Health Fund of Poland said patients who use the free service will be able to discuss their results with local medical staff, who will help them create an “individual health plan.”

🧁 Community story: Baking for charity

For today’s community story, I wanted to share an email I received from TDA reader, Nathan.

Nathan writes: “In April last year, my Mum was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. Unfortunately, there are very limited options for people with glioblastoma; treatments have hardly changed in the last 30 years, and the average survival after diagnosis is only 12-18 months.

Given these bleak prospects, my family started to brainstorm how we could do our bit to try and help change things for the better. We own a small family bakery/café in Berwick, and so an idea came easily enough - why not start baking for brain cancer?

Thus far, my family and I have rallied almost 70 bakeries and cafés across Australia to help raise money and awareness for vital brain cancer research. On May 31, participating businesses will be selling nominated item/items that customers can purchase, proceeds from which will be donated to brain cancer research. We have teamed up with Carrie’s Beanies 4 Brain Cancer to ensure that all of the money raised will be going directly to brain cancer research efforts. We’ve raised over $14,500 thus far, but we are hoping to make as much of a difference as possible.”

An amazing idea by Nathan and his family, and here’s to hoping more money can be raised to fund brain cancer research. If you’re interested in learning more, you can check out their website here.

🎵 Feel good song of the week

🦖 New fossil found

Flinders University has discovered new fossil footprints that suggest reptiles have been on Earth for 40 million more years than scientists had originally understood!

I love these stories for their sheer absurdity: imagine making a discovery that potentially puts reptiles on earth a *cool* 40 million years earlier than previously known.

That person was Professor John Long, who discovered the fossilised tracks of a reptile that could have existed up to 350 million years ago in the Snowy Plains Formation of Victoria.

This discovery presented “new trackway data.. that challenge[s] [scientist’s] widely accepted timeline.”

According to Long, “once we identified this, we realised this is the oldest evidence in the world of reptile-like animals walking around on land – and it pushes their evolution back by 35-to-40 million years.”

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👗 First Nations at Aus Fashion Week

There’s been a lot of coverage about this year’s Australian Fashion Week, and I think it’s fair to say it hasn’t been glowing. However, in the spirit of this newsletter and bringing some good news, I thought I’d focus on the First Nations and youth designers who were at the forefront of this year’s fashion week.

Five First Nations companies featured on the runway this year include: Miimi & Jiinda, Buluuy Mirrii, Ngali, Liandra and Joseph & James.

In an interview with the ABC, Juanita Page, founder of menswear clothing line Joseph & James, said her collection, ‘Gathering,’ was named by her mum.

She said: “My mum actually named the collection when I was talking to her about it, because I didn't know what to name it, she was like 'it's gathering, that's what it is, that's what we do, bub.” Speaking to the National Indigenous Times, she added: “Gathering is an ode to the moments that matter most—where connection is woven into every moment, and memories are made around every table”.

Separately, on Friday, the Vogue Vanguard Show was dedicated to platforming up-and-coming young Aussie designers. According to Vogue, “the show [gave] a chance for industry talent to discover the next generation of Australian creatives at the close of fashion week.” The featured designers included Emily Watson, Minhee Jo (Aaisel), Samuel Lewis, Ethan Bergersen and Ruby Pedder.

So good!

🏠 3D printed houses

For the first time, two government-funded social homes have been 3D printed in the NSW town of Dubbo.

Using 700 tonnes of specially formulated concrete, the printing process took just 16 days, with the entire construction completed in only 20 weeks.

As 3D printing technology continues to advance, it holds the potential to significantly boost housing supply and help ease the housing crisis in regional and remote communities.

We actually produced a whole video about 3D printing. You can watch it here if you want to learn more!

Want more from The Daily Aus? Listen to the podcast

Scams are on the rise in Australia. Not only are they increasing in volume, but they are also more sophisticated than ever, particularly in the age of artificial intelligence.

So what is being done to combat the rise of scams, and is it working?

We’ll break it all down for you in today’s podcast.

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