Photo: Carles Rabada / Unsplash+
In this edition, California makes strides towards fulfilling the broken promises made to tribes 150 years ago; rural medics fight a TB epidemic in India with help from an app that identifies dangerous coughs; and the majority of villagers in Greystone, Ireland, voluntary adopts a code of ‘no smart devices’.
Referencing a treaty made at the time of statehood, a promise never kept, California has pledged to return at least 7.5 million acres of land and coastal waters to the stewardship of native tribes. The agreement includes a process for tribes to purchase land and allows formerly outlawed activities, such as careful use of fire in forestry.
Source: LA Times
A quarter of the world’s TB cases are in India, but only 8% of people are screened, despite government efforts. Many can’t spare the time to go to a clinic for the test. Now mobile medics are using an AI-based app that differentiates coughs to help catch the dangerous kinds. So far it correctly identifies 87% of cases.
Source: Reasons to be Cheerful
With the potential to create enough energy for 500 homes, 124 tiny hydropower units are being installed at a new kind of power plant near Sankt Goar, Germany. Unlike conventional hydropower plants, the ‘energy fish’ don’t need dams that impact wildlife migrations but are instead suspended in the river to capture the power of the current.
Source: techy44
Looking at 16 years of use and over a million solar panels, researchers in Germany found that solar panels degrade on average just over half of one percent a year, versus 4.8% as had previously been used to calculate their lifespan. The much longer life this study projects makes solar a more profitable and sustainable energy choice.
Source: PV Magazine
California was the first US state to block federal agents from masking their faces, a law that was struck down on a technicality. Washington State, Oregon, and Virginia have since passed their own ordinances with changes to avoid the problem the California law had, and in three other states, laws are in the works.
Source: AP
The court ruling handed down, that Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube are addictive, is a first, and even though the companies will surely appeal, it changes the landscape and worldview on social media, in a moment similar to that for big tobacco. Meta and Google were fined heavily for “knowingly harm[ing] children”.
Source: BBC
A 2023 grassroots initiative of teachers and parents in the seaside town of Greystones, Ireland, led to a code of ‘no smart devices’ to which most of the town has opted in. The effort included podcasts and workshops for parents and kids. Now parents say the pressure is off for kids to use these devices, and kids say they are doing fine.
Source: New York Times
In the fashion hub of Paris, France, SneakCœurZ collected 30,000 pairs of used sneakers last year alone. The non-profit rescues all that it can, redistributing most of the saved shoes and selling a portion through a ‘solidarity model’s that has created 19 jobs so far.
Source: AP
BBC Journalist Georgie Styles talks to woman farmers in famine-racked Madagascar who are up against obstacles of patriarchal tradition and severe conditions. With the help of new laws, NGOs, and the formation of collectives, they are growing with locally adapted agro-ecology methods and increasing yields as much as 20-30%.
Source: BBC
Over 100 kākāpō chicks have been born this breeding year, making it the most prolific year ever. The population will not be officially counted until chicks are 150 days old, to allow for mishaps, but experts hope the bumper year will give a good boost to numbers of this endangered species.
Source: Radio New Zealand
