Photo: Julio Salinas / Unsplash (CC0)
In today’s edition of Squirrel News, Chile is about to create the world’s third-largest marine protected area, San Francisco builds a seawall designed to promote marine life, and a new payphone at Boston University makes it possible to ‘Call a Boomer’.
A previously thought extinct species of fur seal native to Juan Fernández archipelago in Chile will be safeguarded by a new marine protected zone. Once enforced, it would be the third largest marine park in the world.
Source: The Guardian
San Francisco has installed a new seawall that incorporates more spaces for marine life. Researchers believe this can help promote biodiversity while still protecting the city against coastal erosion and flooding.
Source: Reasons to be Cheerful
A company in Japan has begun to produce and sell an organic fertiliser made from what would previously have been discarded seafood leftovers. It has been found to improve soil conditions and enhance the flavour of produce.
Source: JStories
A Lyme disease vaccine developed by Pfizer and Valneva has been shown to reduce instances of the tick-borne disease by 73.2%. They plan to submit the vaccine to regulatory authorities. It would be the first approved vaccine against the disease.
Source: NBC
In order to combat blood cancer, CAR-T therapy required sending immune cells to a specialised facility at great cost. Now researchers have developed a way to do it inside the body directly.
Source: Medical Express
US States respond to droughts by restricting the use of water. Scientists now suggest more attentive wastewater treatment plans to mitigate future water shortages brought on by climate change.
Source: DW
The US Department of Homeland Security has been buying or attempting to buy used warehouse space to become huge detention centres, essentially mega prisons without due process or respect for human rights. Smart Cities Dive has put together a practical list of tools local municipalities are using to block new centres coming to their area.
Source: Smart Cities Dive
On BBC’s The Climate Question, experts talk about what is working in their cities to help people move around more quickly and cheaply, with less negative impact on the climate. Bogotá’s Bus Rapid Transit system has been so successful that other cities are adopting it, and NYC’s congestion fee has reduced traffic by 13% in its first year.
Source: BBC
After a devastating flood in June of 2012, 27 homes in the Welsh village of Ceredigion were damaged. To help limit flood risks in the future, the locals began to plant trees and develop “leaky dams” to absorb water.
Source: BBC
A payphone on the campus of Boston University has been set up to automatically connect to a senior housing community in Reno, Nevada. This is part of an experiment created by Matter Neuroscience to combat loneliness among both generations.
Source: CBS
