What better way to start the day than with a global round up of positive news nuggets?
Governerds
Former classroom teacher turned Instagram educator, Sharon McMahon, has done it again. In addition to her regular “government for grownups” lessons on social media, McMahon is known for leading major fundraising efforts with her digital community - over 965,000 ‘Governerds,’ named for their participation in McMahon’s digital social studies classroom. This time of year, it’s common to see teachers sharing their “Clear the List” classroom wishlists and asking friends, family, and followers to help get their classrooms ready for a new school year. Last year, McMahon opened a teacher grant program and raised over $560,000 with her digital community. Her goal this year was to reach $1 million in funding to give back to teachers from every corner of the U.S. In just one weekend, the community met and exceeded that goal and raised over $1.1 million, which will go directly to teachers in the form of grants.
Mangrove Projects
Over the past ten years the Mikoko Pamoja project in Kenya has conserved over 100 hectares of mangroves and planted an additional 4,000 new carbon-sucking mangroves along the coastline each year. Mangroves have the additional benefit of defending and protecting coastlines. The project has led to an increase in local livelihoods and inspired similar efforts in Mozambique, Madagascar, Gambia, and Senegal.
1 Billion Trees
Meanwhile, in the northern hemisphere, the Biden Administration just pledged to plant one billion new trees across millions of acres of burned and dead woodlands in the Western part of the country. The initiative is already funded.
Punt
An indentation at the bottom of a molded glass bottle.
Example Sentence: The punt lives on as a custom, but it does add strength to the structure of bottles, particularly those used for sparkling wine, which are under great internal pressure from the carbonization.
Yet another extraordinary image captured by the James Webb Telescope. The space observatory's latest image shows the Cartwheel galaxy, a ring galaxy located 500 million light-years away that formed when a large spiral galaxy and a small galaxy violently collided. When galaxies collide, they can change in shape and structure. In the Cartwheel galaxy, which looks a bit like a wagon wheel, a colorful ring surrounds an even brighter inner ring - both of which expand away from the heart of the collision, as depicted in the Webb image.
Community Support
27th Letter Books in southwest Detroit prioritizes diversity and inclusion in the titles it stocks on its shelves. Because of this commitment to diverse voices and perspectives, it’s become a beloved part of the community - as many independent bookstores do. Less than a year after first opening its doors, someone pretending to be a legitimate customer started placing online orders using fraudulent credit cards totaling more than $35,000. The case is under investigation, but the bookstore’s owners still needed help coming up with the funds to keep their doors open, so they set up a GoFundMe. The community quickly rallied around them, raising over $35,000 within 10 days, most of it in small increments of $10 or $15. “Don’t be afraid to ask for help and reach out to your communities. I don’t think we could have been able to get through this without all of that support,” co-owner Erin Pineda told WXYZ Detroit.
AI for Hepatitis C
The UK National Health Service will use artificial intelligence to detect, screen and treat people at risk of hepatitis C, The Guardian reports. Hepatitis C, which is known as “the silent killer”, often does not have any noticeable symptoms until the liver has been severely damaged, which means thousands of people are living with the infection without realising it. The health service will identify people who may have the virus by using AI to scan health records for a number of key risk factors.
Risk-free Motherhood
Sierra Leone is on the cusp of decriminalizing abortion after the government's unanimous backing of the 'risk-free motherhood' bill. The provisions of the bill also cover other aspects of maternal health, expanding access to contraceptives, post-abortion care and other reproductive health services.
Quote of the Day
“People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.”
Zig Ziglar
On this Day
4 August 1958: The Billboard Hot 100 is published for the first time, with "Poor Little Fool" by Ricky Nelson at #1
2,000-year-old Roman coin, in exceptional condition and etched with a symbol of the zodiac, discovered in the sea off northern Israel. Read on...
Mood Booster
The Wayzata Symphony Orchestra and the Edina Chorale performed a flash mob performance of Beethoven's Ode To Joy at the IDS Crystal Court in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.