adapalmer

adapalmer, 8 months ago to random

When facing the "All we need is STEM!" approach to education, my usual response is:

Developing the vaccine was the STEM problem; distribution & getting shots in arms was the Social Science problem; getting people to trust it & combatting misinformation was the Humanities problem -- which did we fail?

adapalmer, 5 months ago to random

Guys, Amazon deforestation is down 50% this year!

It's worth saying twice: Amazon deforestation is down 50% this year!!!!!!! 2023 was also the best year ever for reforestation and carbon reduction! We're doing it! We're really doing it! #ShareGoodNewsToo

https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/amazon-rainforest-destruction-slows-sharply-year-date-report-says-2023-11-28

adapalmer, 3 months ago to random

Some local good news today: Chicago Board of Education unanimously votes to remove police from schools, and invest instead in restorative justice, mental health, and non-carceral systems. Excellent piece on it from our local paper: #ShareGoodNewsToo

https://www.hpherald.com/evening_digest/chicago-board-of-education-unanimously-votes-to-remove-police-from-schools/article_d1910fc6-d2a9-11ee-b54f-bf76197eafa7.html?

adapalmer, 2 months ago to random

In Medellín, a city of 2.5 million people in Colombia, the Green Corridors urban restoration project has planted 880,000 trees and 2.5 million plants, reducing pollution and bringing temperatures down by 2 degrees C. #ShareGoodNewsToo https://fixthenews.com/r/4f92a0c2?m=d62c57a4-125a-4b9d-b04d-bdfd23b8627c

adapalmer, 3 months ago to random

Research shows that while there is often initial resistance to congestion pricing and pedestrianization schemes, once they are implemented and people see the benefits public opinion shifts. "We can't find a single example of a traffic-reduction measure that's been in place for more than two years that's then gone on to be removed because of a lack of public support." #ShareGoodNewsToo https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240122-from-london-to-new-york-can-quitting-cars-be-popular?ref=futurecrunch.com

adapalmer, 1 month ago to random

McKenzie Scott has now given away $16.5 billion from the fortune she came into after divorcing Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. She gives big, unrestricted gifts to small organizations, making a huge difference to what they can accomplish. #ShareGoodNewsToo https://apnews.com/article/mackenzie-scott-open-call-yield-giving-bezos-ae809a469080e9e61a945a14a230629e?ref=fixthenews.com

adapalmer, 5 months ago to random

Don't miss results just in from Earth's biggest UBI experiment, 6,000 people in rural Kenya getting cash. Result: lump sum at the start helped more than monthly payments, but both caused so much growth that, not only the recipients, but even neighboring towns got wealthier, healthier, & safer #ShareGoodNewsToo https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2023/12/1/23981194/givedirectly-basic-income-experiment-abhijit-banerjee-tavneet-suri?ref=futurecrunch.com

adapalmer, 3 months ago to random

Congratulations, you've invented writing, what will you use it for?

Mesopotamia: Law codes!
China: Ethics!
Greeks: Philosophy!
Romans: Rhetoric!
Norsemen: Just teach me how to spell "A curse upon the man who moves this rock."

adapalmer, 3 months ago to random

GOOD NEWS: Last month (Jan 2024) saw the first mass malaria vaccine rollout AND we crossed what every metric predicts will be global maximum carbon, so global emissions will be LOWER in 2024 than 2023 and lower every year thereafter. These two achievements will EACH save more lives than any other single thing in human history, but hardly got any news coverage because bad news gets more clicks than good. Don't give into the doomscroll! #ShareGoodNewsToo https://futurecrunch.com/goodnews2023/?ref=future-crunch-newsletter

adapalmer, 5 months ago to random

World solar power doubled in the past 18 months. China passed 50% renewables with incredible and unanticipated speed, Europe is down to getting only 17% of its power from fossil fuels, solar has firmly outstripped coal in use and cost, and all signs point to 2023 as peak world carbon emissions, that we've hit the turn of the curve and carbon will now be lower every year. It's working! #ShareGoodNewsToo
https://futurecrunch.com/r/4f79a213?m=d62c57a4-125a-4b9d-b04d-bdfd23b8627c

adapalmer, 3 months ago to random

First mass vaccination campaign against malaria for children was launched last Monday in Cameroon! And another 19 African countries plan to join the program this year. #ShareGoodNewsToo https://futurecrunch.com/r/f5a95d4b?m=d62c57a4-125a-4b9d-b04d-bdfd23b8627c

adapalmer, 3 months ago to random

Research on endometriosis is finally picking up speed, and a clinical trial of the first non-hormonal, non-surgical treatment for endometriosis, started in 2023 in Scotland, is showing promising results. #ShareGoodNewsToo https://web.archive.org/web/20240213161004/https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2024/02/07/the-first-endometriosis-drug-in-four-decades-is-on-the-horizon

adapalmer, 5 months ago to random

World solar power doubled in the past 18 months. China passed 50% renewables with incredible and unanticipated speed, Europe is down to getting only 17% of its power from fossil fuels, solar has firmly outstripped coal in use and cost, and all signs point to 2013 as peak world carbon emissions, that we've hit the turn of the curve and carbon will now be lower every year. It's working! #ShareGoodNewsToo
https://futurecrunch.com/r/4f79a213?m=d62c57a4-125a-4b9d-b04d-bdfd23b8627c

adapalmer, 18 days ago to random

In a historic Indigenous victory in BC, nearly half a million hectares of Crown land, including more than 200 islands of the Haida Gwaii archipelago, have been returned to the Haida Nation. #ShareGoodNewsToo https://fixthenews.com/r/282a5b72?m=d62c57a4-125a-4b9d-b04d-bdfd23b8627c

adapalmer, 3 months ago to random

An 8% drop in EU fossil fuel emissions last year pushed emissions down to their lowest level in 60 years. “EU CO2 emissions have finally fallen back to levels apparent in my parents’ generation in the 1960s. Yet, over this time period, the economy has tripled – showing that climate change can be combated without foregoing economic growth.” #ShareGoodNewsToo https://futurecrunch.com/r/26f8a0e8?m=d62c57a4-125a-4b9d-b04d-bdfd23b8627c

adapalmer, 2 months ago to random

Amazing piece about the incredible cystic fibrosis drug, Trifakta, that came out in 2019. Cystic fibrosis once all but guaranteed an early death. Today, those who begin taking the drug in early adolescence can expect to survive to age 82—an essentially normal life span. #ShareGoodNewsToo https://fixthenews.com/r/284bbd7b?m=d62c57a4-125a-4b9d-b04d-bdfd23b8627c

adapalmer, 4 months ago to random

For all the pessimism around antivax things in the USA, globally it's been a banner year for vaccination: Malaria, HEPB, Cervical cancer vaccines, plus we are REALLY CLOSE to ERADICATING POLIO, only seven cases this year. 2024 might be the year Polio is declared a thing of the past! #ShareGoodNewsToo https://futurecrunch.com/r/519dcaeb?m=d62c57a4-125a-4b9d-b04d-bdfd23b8627c

adapalmer, 3 months ago to random

Minneapolis put its efforts in and did it, demonstrating an overwhelmingly successful program to reduce homelessness, by funding housing AND staff to help get people into it, reducing homelessness by 36%, achieving this in a period when the national rate went UP by 12%! Now more places can follow their model. #ShareGoodNewsToo https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2023-12-22/minneapolis-is-on-a-quest-to-defeat-chronic-homelessness

adapalmer, 2 months ago to random

In one of the first initiatives of its kind in the world, pharmacies in Catalonia, Spain, have begun to provide free products for the region's roughly 2.5 million people who menstruate. They will receive one menstrual cup, one pair of underwear for periods, and two packages of cloth pads at local pharmacies free of charge. #ShareGoodNewsToo https://fixthenews.com/r/e910f77a?m=d62c57a4-125a-4b9d-b04d-bdfd23b8627c

adapalmer, 4 months ago to random

New ExUrbe blog post: Tools for Thinking About Censorship.

This is a short distillation from my research on patterns in how censorship works, which I hope will be helpful to many fandom friends currently discussing the concerns over the Chengdu Worldcon Hugo ballot. https://www.exurbe.com/tools-for-thinking-about-censorship/

adapalmer, 21 days ago to random

In the first half of April, EVs accounted for just over 50% of vehicles sold in China, surpassing sales of internal combustion engine cars for the first time. Furthermore, sales of the latter are also dropping, showing that EVs are truly replacing them. #ShareGoodNewsToo https://fixthenews.com/r/1a7c0f09?m=d62c57a4-125a-4b9d-b04d-bdfd23b8627c

adapalmer, 1 month ago to random

Finland is having great success tackling homelessness with a Housing First policy. In the capital city alone, the number of people living without a roof over their heads fell by 40 percent from 2019 to 2022. #ShareGoodNewsToo https://fixthenews.com/r/feca4420?m=d62c57a4-125a-4b9d-b04d-bdfd23b8627c

adapalmer, 4 months ago to random

One of my fish finished transitioning! 🏳️‍⚧️💕 Swordtails change sex in many circumstances; this one chose to be female when young & shy, but some larger fish were removed making the tank feel safer & he’s now grown the male’s long tail. Some stay female longer then transition when tired of having babies

adapalmer, 3 months ago to random

As keeper of our big Renaissance prop & costume library, I love the smiles I get when Shakespeare directors come to borrow stuff and I have the absurdly specific things the scripts need, like: "Here are the manacles for the arrest scene!" "Here's the strawberry-embroidered handkerchief!" Here's the bible with Plantagenet arms for Richard to hold standing between two priests!" "Here's the buff-colored armor so Dromio's pun in IV.ii makes sense!" "Here's the letter telling Hotspur his plot sucks!"