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Good News Headlines 8/14/2023

What's four-legged, furry, and often serves up a quick little mood boost? That's right, a dog. It turns out even short, friendly interactions with canines can be good for our health.

As the Hollywood actors strike continues, some of the industry's biggest names are making their voices heard. SAG-AFTRA, the union that represents thousands of film and television actors, declared a strike starting on July 14.

Ndn Changemaker Announcement Cohort Collage Seo 2023

Good News Headlines 7/31/2023

21 Indigenous visionary leaders from throughout Turtle Island and beyond who are radically transforming Indigenous communities by defending Indigenous lands, waters, and rights; developing solutions for future communities; and revitalizing Indigenous languages, governance practices, ceremonies, and ways of life receive NDN Changemaker Fellows.

People With Down Syndrome Are Living Longer, But The Health System Still Treats Many As Kids

The medical system has not kept up with the extraordinary increase in the number of adults with Down syndrome. Many medical students learn about the condition only while training to treat pediatric patients.

Who Is In Charge of First Contact With Extraterrestrials?

The question of who is “in charge” of preparing for contact with alien life immediately comes to mind. The communities – and their interpretive lenses – most likely to engage in any contact scenario would be military, corporate and scientific.

Good News Headlines 7/24/2023

Detailed analysis finds that the Vegan diet massively cuts environmental damage leading to 75% less climate-heating emissions, water pollution and land use than meat-rich ones.

Vermont Flood Destroys Road To Sage Mountain Botanical Sanctuary

One week ago today, I drove two miles from Sage Mountain to attend a town meeting, not realizing it would be the last time I would drive down our road for the foreseeable future.

Good News Headlines 7/17/2023

"Groundbreaking," "monumental," and "transformative" were just a few of the words rights advocates used to describe the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's long-awaited approval of over-the-counter use of Opill, a birth control pill.

If Humans Went Extinct, What Would Earth Look Like One Year Later?

Have you ever wondered what the world would be like if everyone suddenly disappeared? Although it’s a common theme in movies, TV shows and books, the end of humanity is still a strange thing to think about.

New Charleston Museum Nods To Historical Roots Of US Health Disparities

The galleries span centuries of trauma and triumph. But what sets this museum apart from other sites dedicated to Black history is its location. It is built on Gadsden’s Wharf— where tens of thousands of enslaved Africans first stepped foot in America.

Good News Headlines 7/10/2023

The Blackfeet Nation set dozens of wild bison loose on tribal land last week, in a historic move to restore a free-ranging herd at a time when the last remaining American buffalo are typically kept enclosed.

California Offers Bipartisan Road Map For Protecting Kids Online Even As Big Tech Fights Back

In California, a Democrat and a Republican figured out how to pass the country’s toughest online privacy law protecting kids. If their experience is any indication, federal legislators can expect fierce pushback from Big Tech.

Good News Headlines 7/3/2023

The Western Joshua Tree Conservation Act has passed in California. It prohibits any person or public agency from importing, exporting, removing, owning, buying or selling western Joshua trees or any of their parts.

Good News Headlines 6/26/2023

Huynh Tieu Huong, whom national media has dubbed ‘Mother Teresa of Vietnam,’ overcame decades of homelessness to help hundreds of orphans and now runs a non-profit organization dedicated to the adoption, support, and free offering of loving kindness to foundlings, orphans, and homeless children.

Approaching The Infopocalypse

The incentive for siloed social networks to monetize attention has empowered a new kind of distributed propaganda crafted to fit niche audiences living in their own reality. Without institutions and practices that can establish and preserve the credibility of information, there is no solid ground for democratic discourse.

EU Approves Draft Law To Regulate AI – Here’s How It Will Work

The European Parliament voted to approve its own draft proposal for the AI Act, a piece of legislation two years in the making, with the ambition of shaping global standards in the regulation of AI.

Inside Science Fiction’s Compassionate Revolution

The science fiction and fantasy genre, which concerns itself so frequently with distant stars and imaginary lands, has become a space in which the prominence of women, people of color, and LGBTQ people most closely mirrors real-world America.

Good News Headlines 6/19/2023

Whisper it, but the boom in plastic production could come to a shuddering halt as a plastics treaty agreed to this month by the world’s governments could cut production by 80% by 2040.

Why This Year’s Summer Solstice Matters So Much For A New Religious Movement Mired In Controversy

As the community gathers, it will be a time of reckoning with the past. In light of recent crises, attendance at the event may well indicate whether the community still retains a wide enough base to support it.

Choking On Smoke? There Are Very Specific People To Blame

I’m writing this from my smoky apartment in Brooklyn, New York. Looking out my window, the sky is orange. It smells like an ashtray. Even though I’ve been staying indoors, my eyes are red, I have a headache, and my lungs are sore.

Good News Headlines 6/12/2023

Filmmaker and cultural anthropologist Gail Myers discusses the making of her documentary, Rhythms of the Land, which preserves the untold stories of Black farmers, the oppressive history of sharecropping, and the power of seed saving.

How AI Could Take Over Elections – And Undermine Democracy

While platforms like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube use forms of AI to get users to spend more time on their sites, Clogger’s AI would have a different objective: to change people’s voting behavior.

Cleveland Lake Erie Lighthouse Erik Drost Via Wikimedia Commons Under Cc By 20 E1685695330114

Good News Headlines 6/5/2023

A unique opportunity for a fixer-upper is coming by way of the US General Services Administration (GSA)—6 historic American lighthouses. Going up this year via public auction, the federal government has a unique way of ensuring lighthouses retain their historic status.

Guns Are The Biggest Public Health Threat Kids Face. Why Aren’t They Getting The Message?

Today’s public service announcements on gun safety feel somewhat sanitized. None really captures the horrifying physical and emotional damage caused by guns.

Study Shows Completion Of The Massachusetts Central Rail Trail System Would Bring Significant Health And Economic Benefits To The Commonwealth

A study initiated by the Norwottuck Network to assess the benefits of the completion of the Massachusetts Central Rail Trail (MCRT) system predicts that general health and wellness would improve.