In today’s edition of Squirrel News, voluntary gun laws help prevent suicides, a Washington University teaches sustainability with the help of its own buildings, and turning ‘ugly’ animals into memes could be a solution to their extinction.
Firearms are the most common means of suicide in the US. Three states allow people to voluntarily add their names to a do-not-sell list in order to prevent them from impulsively purchasing guns. At least nine more states are considering similar laws.
How to get gun owners to give up their firearms during crises (archive)
Guns do not just do harm to others, they are also a risk for oneself, especially in times of personal crises. The growing ‘voluntary storage’ movement tries to prevent suicides by asking gun owners to give up their arms voluntarily.
UN climate case against Australia won by Indigenous Islanders
Yessie Mosby, a Torres Strait Islander, was brought to tears when he discovered that the UN committee found that Australia had violated his people’s rights by not protecting them from climate change.
This University is helping students from disadvantaged backgrounds apply for jobs
Administrators at Bunker Hill Community College in Boston noticed that their paid internships weren’t reaching minorities and women in the numbers they intended. Here’s how they fixed it.
New study proves that animal therapy could boost cognitive and emotional activity
According to a new study, petting animals supercharges people’s frontal cortex, the brain area involved in functions such as problem solving and attention and emotional processes.
Turning ‘ugly’ animals into memes could help protect them
A study in Poland looking at how to involve people in protecting species that aren’t aesthetically pleasing found that using memes could be a solution.
