Starting with some art…
This week I am sharing a simple illustration of the heavens, or space if you prefer that term, that is inspired by the inktober prompt lunar. While it is not my favorite drawing I have ever done; it is important to remember that improvement comes with practice, and this is just one more step toward getting better. I hope your week was amazing!
Good News Roundup
The Ghanaian government has approved a vaccine for malaria. The World Bank (IFC) has officially closed a loophole that funded coal and fossil fuels. In India, tigers have continued to make a miraculous comeback to more than double their population since the last census conducted. All these stories and more are in this week’s roundup.
Wow! News
Ocean Clean Up Gets Financial Boost
One of the co-founders of Airbnb has just donated 25 million to the Dutch nonprofit Ocean Cleanup for their new plastic capture system. The nonprofit has had a system deployed in the Great Pacific garbage patch since 2021 and has removed 440,000 pounds of trash to date. The new planned system is three times the size of the current system and can clean ten times faster than its predecessor. It is also projected that with about 10-50 of these systems, the company could clean all the plastic patches in all the world’s oceans. This makes the donation all the more beneficial to the company and could put Ocean Cleanup on track to be one of the greatest accomplishments of the 21st century.
Amsterdam’s ‘Smart’ Blue-Green Roofs Reduce Urban Flooding
A system developed in the Netherlands is reducing flooding and boosting climate solutions. The system makes up close to three acres in Amsterdam, and these “smart” blue/green roofs increase biodiversity and have a cooling effect across the city. It is built to ensure that excess precipitation is slowly released into city sewers while nourishing the plants above the system. They have the potential to capture 97% of precipitation as opposed to current green roofs, which can only capture 12%. This project has amazing potential to have a real impact on the world and we can only hope that the system spreads to more places.
Mayan ball game scoreboard thought to be over 1,000 years old found in Mexico
An amazing discovery in Chichén Itzá has everyone talking this week. They discovered what amounts to an ancient scoreboard with some of the most complete hieroglyphic writing they have ever discovered. They plan to get high-resolution photos and preserve the stone tablet.
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Carolyn Sehgal 