222: Biocentrism
Good news you didn't hear about
Nepal has made significant progress in basic and secondary education in the last five years. Between 2017 and 2022, the number of out-of-school children was reduced by 6.76%; high school completion rates increased from 11.5% to 33.1%; and 8.2 million students benefitted from direct interventions to enhance learning, of which 4.07 million were girls. World Bank
Nigeria is one of 12 countries that still haven't eliminated maternal and neonatal tetanus. It's getting closer though—last year, there were only 55 reported deaths nationwide, and the WHO just confirmed that the disease has been eliminated in the northwestern states of Benue, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger and Plateau, home to a combined 31.4 million people.
Schoolkids in eight US states—Minnesota, New Mexico, Colorado, Vermont, Michigan, Massachusetts, California and Maine—now receive free school meals, regardless of family income. Several other states are considering similar programs, and congressional supporters are working on legislation to extend universal free meals to every state. AP
Despite the pandemic and the polycrisis, the poverty rate in Bangladesh declined by 5.6% between 2016 to 2022, lifting almost ten million people out of poverty. The government has cut the extreme poverty rate in half in the last ten years and is now targeting a reduction of extreme poverty to 2.3% by 2031. Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics
Germany’s government has approved plans for new legislation, known as the Self-Determination Act, to make it easier for trans and non-binary people to change their names on legal documents such as birth or death certificates. 'We simply want to make life a bit easier for a small group for which it has great significance.' Pink News
The US FDA has approved the first vaccine for RSV for use during late pregnancy, giving the country a powerful new tool to protect young children. RSV is the country's leading cause of infant hospitalisation, resulting in half a million emergency room visits and 300 deaths in young children every year. Conversation
RIP Bindeshwar Pathak, social reformer and revolutioniser of national sanitation in India, who brought clean toilets to tens of millions, and in the process, liberated millions from demeaning work they were forced into by caste structures. 'One day all Indians, united in cleanliness, will worship together, dine together and bathe in the same pond.' Economist
As of last week, the Indian state of of Tamil Nadu has expanded its free breakfast scheme to 1.7 million students in government schools, with the stated aim of 'ensuring adequate nutrition, decreasing malnutrition incidents, improving school attendance and retention rates, as well as providing relief to working mothers.' Tribune
Earlier this month, more than 800,000 student loan borrowers in the United States started having their debts discharged, after the government announced it would forgive a combined $39 billion in federal student loan debt. In total, the Biden-Harris Administration has approved more than $116.6 billion in student loan forgiveness for more than 3.4 million borrowers.
When was the last time you heard news out of Spain that didn't involve wildfires, elections or sleazy football officials? How about this: in the next month, powerful new labour laws protecting vulnerable groups will go into force, Catalonia will implement a rent freeze f0r 80% of its population, and a wide-ranging animal welfare bill will come into effect. The Local
Even more good news you didn't hear about
MacKenzie Scott has given more than $14.1 billion to 1,621 charities since 2020. Latin America’s central banks declare victory in the war on inflation, and eight countries in the region have now banned e-cigarettes. Ghana has broken ground on a huge vaccine factory that will produce 600 million doses a year. Violent deaths in Brazil have reached their lowest level in 12 years. Germany just unveiled a draft bill legalising the use of recreational marijuana. Not all heroes wear capes—meet some of the extraordinary workers bringing health and nutrition to children in Afghanistan.
The only home we've ever known
My heart is moved by all I cannot save:
so much has been destroyed
I have to cast my lot with those
who age after age, perversely,
with no extraordinary power,
reconstitute the world.
~ Adrienne Rich
In Pichincha, Ecuador, 120,722 hectares have recently been protected, safeguarding 13 different ecosystems, 67 endemic bird species, and water sources for local communities. The network links to a further 74,281 hectares of parks in Mejía, creating protected migration corridors for pumas, Andean bears and imperilled species like the Andean condor and the capuchin monkey.
The Canadian government is partnering with Arctic First Nations to develop a new protected area spanning 15,000 km2 of the Labrador Sea. In Baja California, indigenous fishing communities are advocating for the expansion of the Cabo Pulmo National Park, which was designated on the southeastern tip of the peninsula in 1995, resulting in a 465% increase in fish populations.
Four years ago, Montreal decided to make a 2.5-kilometre stretch of Mont-Royal Avenue car-free every summer, and after rave reviews from users and local businesses, a further nine streets have been transformed this year. 'Thick crowds almost around the clock, shopping, wandering or sinking into the baby-blue Adirondack chairs laid out for public use.' Energy Mix
Indigenous ranger groups in Australia have burned 23,000 km2 across the Great Sandy, Tanami, Gibson, and Great Victoria Deserts this year. 'The goal is to shift from wrong-way fire—where fuel builds up until large, damaging bushfires ignite—to right-way fire, culturally informed fire regimes led by traditional owners.' Conversation
185 countries have joined forces to launch a biodiversity fund. Canada and the UK made initial contributions, and further investment will come from governments, philanthropy, and the private sector. At least 36% of the fund’s resources will support the small island states and countries most vulnerable to climate change. Mongabay
Composting is already mandatory in Queens, New York, and will roll out across New York City and Brooklyn over the next year. The program requires residents to separate food scraps and yard waste from their trash and is thanks to the Zero Waste Act that passed this summer. NYT
The Biden administration has pledged $106 million for salmon recovery programs. The 16 projects will aid the recovery of 28 endangered salmon and steelhead species, including Central California Coast coho salmon and Sacramento River winter-run Chinook salmon. Florida Phoenix
A family-run environmental organisation in Indonesia called Sungai Watch has successfully removed 1.2 million kilograms of plastic from polluted rivers and mangroves; and out to sea, nonprofit The Ocean Cleanup has collected over 11,000 kilograms of trash from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch—the most rubbish cleared from a single extraction.
Our goal is to kind of put ourselves out of business. We don't want to be doing this forever and ever.
Alex Tobin, Ocean Cleanup
A landmark victory for sea turtles in Florida, home to over 90% of all sea turtle nests in the US, with the implementation of enhanced protections for critical nesting sites; and in Texas, the legislature has voted to invest $1 billion towards new state parks after decades of environmentalist activism. This is a big deal—only 2.4% of land in Texas is currently protected.
South Carolina has increased its protections for horseshoe crabs, and in Louisiana, restoration work has commenced on reconnecting wetlands to the Mississippi River to keep up with rising sea levels. 'By working with nature—instead of against it—coastal communities will once again be protected for generations to come.'
A prehistoric, flightless bird has been returned to the wild in New Zealand after it was deemed extinct in 1898. Thanks to decades of conservation work, 18 takahē were released onto the alpine slopes of South Island. Since the bird’s rediscovery in 1948, the population has increased by 8% a year to reach 500 today. Guardian
A Tasmanian devil breeding program in New South Wales has produced its 500th joey after ten years of 'blood, sweat and tears.' The program started with 44 disease-free devils in 2011, after 90% of the wild population was wiped out by a highly contagious and fatal facial tumour disease. ABC
Miyawaki forests in the New York Times! Tiny forests are popping up across the US, with sites in Washington, LA, and Cambridge. Based on the Miyawaki method, these native forests grow up to 10 times the speed of conventional planting, and these postage-stamp-sized plots are delivering big environmental benefits in cities around the world.
Saving the world is cheaper than ruining it
The clean energy transition is not waiting on some Churchillian rallying of the troops; it is already well under way and speeding up by the day. And it can provide real, plausible optimism for a future in which the planet no longer grows only hotter. Climate action is winning. Or at least starting to win. Which is exhilarating in its way, even amid the flames. And worth celebrating.
~ Chris Turner
Greenhouse gas emissions in the European Union fell by nearly 3% in the first quarter of 2023, even as the bloc's economy grew. Between January and March this year, emissions amounted to 941 million metric tonnes of CO2 equivalents, down 2.9% from a year earlier, while the economy grew 1.2% year-on-year. Reuters
Electricity from coal generation in the US fell 28% during the first half of 2023, compared to the first six months of 2022. Coal generated just 15% of electricity for January through June 2023. It is dying rapidly now. By contrast, generation from renewables (biomass, geothermal, hydropower, solar, wind) accounted for 25.11% of US electricity during the same time period. Electrek
In news that will not come as a surprise to regular readers, the global renewable energy market is growing faster than even the most optimistic forecasts. The latest estimates suggest that renewable capacity additions are set to jump to more than 440 gigawatts in 2023, the largest annual increase ever. Canary
One of the reasons for the boom? The price of solar modules has reached a record low of $0.15 per watt. A year ago, the same module would have cost you $0.23 per watt. Can you think of a single other product in the world whose price has decreased by 35% in the last 12 months? PV Exchange
China has begun construction on its enormous 2.8-GW Qinghai Warang pumped hydro project to boost renewable energy production in the Gobi Desert and Tibetan Plateau. Two reservoirs will act like a giant battery, releasing water from the higher reservoir when demand is high, and pumping it back up using other renewable sources when demand is low. IE
The clean energy revolution has arrived in South Africa, the world's most coal-dependent economy. Individuals and companies have been installing mind-blowing amounts of distributed solar: capacity has risen from 983 MW in March 2022 to 4.7 GW last month, and another 3.2 GW will be added this year, bringing the total to 7 GW in two years (entire grid capacity is around 40 GW).
A year ago, journalists at Bloomberg Green carried out an analysis showing that 19 countries had reached the crucial 5% tipping point for electric vehicle adoption. In the last 12 months, five more countries—Canada, Australia, Spain, Thailand and Hungary—have made the leap, joining the US, China and most of Western Europe. Bloomberg
David Fickling says that a protracted economic crisis in China might be a disaster for the country's leadership, as well as for a population who would likely suffer through a lost decade as the economy reoriented towards more productive activities. For the fate of the planet, however, it would be an unexpected victory. Bloomberg
Spanish utility Endesa has won approval from the Spanish government to close its As Pontes coal plant—the largest in the country—by the end of September, and then to launch a tender to replace the coal station and the energy it produces with renewable energy sources, including a 1-GW wind power project. Wind Power Monthly
Two big regulatory wins in southeast Asia: Indonesia is temporarily relaxing rules that require solar projects to use a majority of domestically produced materials, and Malaysia has relaxed import rules for electric vehicles priced above $21,000, along with the creation of new incentives to encourage EV ownership.
The United States has added more than 1,200 public fast-charging stations in the past 12 months, filling electron deserts and expanding the ability of EVs to make long road trips. The latest addition is Route 50, 'The Loneliest Road in America,' running from Sacramento, California, to Ocean City, Maryland, which now has enough public chargers for anyone looking to make the run. Bloomberg
France is increasing taxes on flights in order to invest more in its railways. The move aims to make train travel more appealing by closing the price gap between airline tickets and train tickets—taking a train in Europe is, on average, double the cost of flying. Until now, the aviation industry has been exempt from both passenger and energy taxes. Euro News
Boston’s mayor just banned the use of fossil fuels in new city-owned buildings and major renovations of municipal buildings. The city owns over 1.4 million m² of property, so the order makes a big stride toward its goals of decarbonisation and electrification. Boston.com
'On a brisk morning this fall, a 46-foot commercial fishing boat will cruise into the cold waters of Sitka, Alaska, and cut the diesel engine. In that moment of near silence, an electric motor will whir to life. This moment will mark a sea change for Sitka’s small-boat commercial fishing industry: a transition to energy-efficient commercial fishing, powered by low- and zero-emissions propulsion systems.'
Hope Is A Verb
In our final episode of Season 1, we speak to Bala Amarasekaran, an accountant turned conservationist who founded the Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary in Sierra Leone and empowered local communities to play their part in protecting native forests and wildlife.
In this conversation, Bala shares his extraordinary story about how a chance encounter with a baby chimpanzee led to an epic conservation mission that’s spanned more than three decades, saved countless chimps and connected him with the legendary Dr Jane Goodall. A masterclass in what it takes to show up and answer a call to mend the planet- even if it’s not the path you planned for.
Indistinguishable from magic
India has become the fourth country to land on the Moon, following the Soviet Union, the United States and China, and the first to land on the lunar south pole. The Chandrayaan-3 mission (Sanskrit for 'moon lander') will deploy a 27-kg, six-wheel rover nicknamed Pragyan (Sanskrit for 'wisdom') to study the chemical composition of the lunar surface. Gizmodo
AI-powered robots are really, really good at recycling. Meet Sorty McSortface and Sir Sorts-a-Lot, two robots that resemble those mechanical arms from an arcade claw machine and can sort through hundreds of kilos of trash in minutes. Their maker, Amp Robotics, now has its technology in 80 facilities across the United States and just completed a $99 million Series C funding round. Atlantic
What happens when you let AI loose on architecture? According to designer Tim Fu, it could give rise to new architectural styles and become an everyday tool of necessity. 'AI's best ability is to fuse things. If you take two distinct concepts that are very recognisable and you fuse them, that hybridism gives you this very successful and unique result that is also novel.' Dezeen
Not just for yogis any more. Researchers are taking a closer look at the vagus nerve, the sensory superhighway that connects the brain to most of the vital organs and helps regulate everything from inflammation to the heartbeat. They're now attempting to map the nerve's complex structure of 160,000 fibres, ushering in a new era of precision treatments. Guardian
Two recent studies have achieved the fastest-ever translation of neural signals from brain computer interfaces into a synthetic voice, at 62 and 78 words per minute, respectively. 'It is now possible to imagine a future where we can restore fluid conversation to someone with paralysis, enabling them to freely say whatever they want to say with an accuracy high enough to be understood reliably.' Wired
Researchers have filled the final gap in our knowledge of the human genome: the elusive Y chromosome. One study has presented the first complete, 62-million base pair map of the male sex chromosome, and a second compares 42 different Y chromosomes spanning 183,000 years of human evolution, 'a crucial milestone towards understanding the full extent of human genetic variation.' Science
And finally, in case you'd forgotten. Right now, in a hangar somewhere in Texas, a bunch of people are installing heat shields on a rocket booster taller than the Statue of Liberty so that a spaceship carrying a 150-tonne payload can ignite its engines while still attached. On its way back down to Earth, this 30-story booster is then going to do a backflip at the speed of sound. SpaceX
The information highway is still super
We discovered a powerful new idea this week. Biocentrism: a vision for humanity that celebrates and protects all forms of life as the only way to secure a healthy future. It's a scientific answer to the meaning of life, a set of moral rules that merge ancient traditions with our growing scientific knowledge of the trillions of worlds around us, presenting humankind with a collective purpose. 'The fundamental tenet of this biocentric view is that a planet that holds life is sacred. And what is sacred must be revered and protected.' Big Think
In the same way that lifestyle changes in the 20th century resulted in the invention of adolescence, in the 21st century our tendency to have children later in life, coupled with improved life and health spans, requires the invention of new life phases. Our two favourites are the Rush Hour of Life, the intense years of trying to move ahead in your career while raising young children, and the Encore Years, the challenging yet possibly most meaningful time of life after you retire, but before your mind and body begin their steepest decline.
Meet Hajime Miura, the greatest yoyo player of all time, and the closest thing you'll ever see to a real life anime character. What he's doing here is the 3A style, the most challenging of all yoyo styles—two-handed string tricks done with two yoyos attached to their strings. Unbelievable. Youtube
"Boss music, disinterested scruffy getup, shows up barefoot, and then does tricks that we've never seen before. This guy is a living anime antagonist who is over-leveled against the competition who just performed because they can't give the award without formalities."
That's it for this week, thanks for reading! We're taking a break next week because of work commitments, so we'll see you in a fortnight.
Whatever stage of life you're in, we hope you're able to find a few moments to enjoy the magic. It only happens once. Might as well make the most of it.
With love,
Gus and Amy