The Positive News Thread

[Juan]

“An ambitious initiative unveiled this week by British Health Secretary Matt Hancock may soon enable the country’s doctors to prescribe therapeutic art- or hobby-based treatments for ailments ranging from dementia to psychosis, lung conditions and mental health issues.”
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-new...180970750/

[flofrog]

This is grim but so extraordinar on service to others...

http://www.latimes.com/local/california/...story.html

[Cyan]

Spiritual developement in the media community, incredible.

Not sure if this is positive news or not but attention to these facts is certainly positive.

Orange man bad:

[Juan]

Iridium—the world’s second densest metal—can kill cancer cells by filling them with a deadly version of oxygen, while leaving healthy tissue unharmed.
https://www.geologyin.com/2017/12/heavy-...kills.html

[Cyan]

"found it!"

[Juan]

If you are victim of the recent California fires in Paradise and in Malibu, and have lost your property and home.

If you are distraught and upset in this crisis situation.

The Yoga Farm community and Ashram is established in the Sierra Foothills of Northern California for over 48 years, would like to assist you in this time of transition and we would like to open our home and community to you. https://sivanandayogafarm.org/announceme...e-victims/

[Juan]

a 30-metre path, made of recycled plastic equivalent to more than 218,000 plastic cups, is expected to be three times as durable as an asphalt alternative and 70% quicker to install.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/...stic-waste

[flofrog]

This is more like creating a positive, and I was not sure where to post this....  just an offer to meditate for Yemen on this coming sunday


http://www.earthrainbownetwork.com/Focus...vation.pdf

[MangusKhan]

Did anyone ever read that great book, Life of Pi?

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-asia-p...ost-at-sea

[Juan]

Amazing news! Ireland's landmark Fossil Fuel Divestment Bill has passed. They are on track to become the first country in the world to divest from fossil fuel-related funds
https://www.ecowatch.com/ireland-fossil-...93680.html

[Juan]

"The Wyss Campaign for Nature is a $1 billion investment to help communities, indigenous peoples, and nations conserve 30% of the planet in its natural state by 2030." https://www.wysscampaign.org/about

[Juan]

End of an era as Ireland closes its peat bogs 'to fight climate change' https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/n...ate-change

[flofrog]

This was a french article so I am making a small recap of it and post the link to the  french article after.

In September in france, in what they call les Ecoles Scientifiques which would be the equivalent of colleges or universities devoted to science,  a small petition started among the students,  it has now 27,000 signatures, not a lot,  but important enough so companies pay attention..
The message is " You are a company ?  If you turn your back to the environment [ "l'écologie" in french ] I will not come work for you ! "  What do the students expect ?  " Fulfilling perspectives of futur ."   What they demand from their employer ?  " A radical change of trajectory."  in the direction of respecting the environment.  The article says it's  a "weak signal "  but in a world "where the  chasing of brains and skills is absolute priority, it would be perilous not to listen to this message and its demands. "  " This peril seems to constitute our best hope for change."  

From the french, the petition is titled " A Student Manifesto for the Environmental Wake-up "

this from the really serious french daily paper Les Echos
https://www.lesechos.fr/idees-debats/edi...225097.php

[Juan]

"The essence of the technique is to devote one in every four cultivation strips to flowering crops, such as oil seeds and spices. In addition, she provides pollinators with cheap nesting support, such as old wood and beaten soil that ground nesting bees can burrow into. Sunflowers were also planted nearby as wind shelters.

“There is a very low barrier so anyone in even the poorest country can do this. There is no equipment, no technology and only a small investment in seeds. It is very easy. You can demonstrate how to do it with pictures sent on a cellphone.”" "The biggest gains were in semi-arid climates, where pumpkin yields rose 561%, aubergine 364%, broad bean 177% and melons 56%. In areas with adequate rain, tomato harvests doubled and aubergine went up 250%. In mountain fields, courgette production tripled and pumpkins doubled." https://www.theguardian.com/environment/...ch-farmers

[Juan]

"In any crisis there are always human angels who step in. Throughout Romania there are amazing people dedicating their lives to saving these poor dogs." https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/lif...campaigner

[Cyan]

AI makes a "child" AI that is more efficient and smarter than any AI ever made by humans.

AI, makes a child, and that child is a better AI than anything made by humans... Think about that for a moment... Quite a threshold.

[Juan]

HeartMath Institute presented its 2018 Humanitarian Heart Awards to the individuals above in recognition of their energetic care and work toward the healing, enrichment and well-being of others. Thoughts from this year’s Humanitarian Heart Award recipients:

“I live everyday focused on others’ healing journey and living the quote from Albert Einstein "only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.”

Steve Sawyer
“My most heartfelt wish for the planet is that we … fulfill our obligation to take care of the whole Earth, including plants, animals and the atmosphere, instead of just looking out for the next way to make a dollar.”

Ann Linda Baldwin
“… it’s the heart that one needs to be educated on, the heart that can bring emotions into alignment, the heart that will take your learning, your community’s learning, our planet’s learning to the next level and beyond.”

David P. Parisian https://www.heartmath.org/articles-of-th...nts-named/

[Nía]

Billionaire Pledges to Protect 30% of the Planet by 2030

Wyoming billionaire plans to purchase around 15% of the planet, doubling the amount of protected lands and waters on Earth

Patagonia’s CEO is donating company’s entire $10M Trump tax cut to fight climate change

A Thanksgiving Meditation in the Face of a Changing Climate

Concerned About Climate Change? Nature Wants to Help

A eureka moment for the planet: we’re finally planting trees again

World’s Largest Vegan and Veg Meat Factory Saving 1,600 Cows a Week Opens in UK

P.T. Barnum’s Hometown Bans Wild Animals in Circuses

Turkey Sales Plummet as Vegan Thanksgiving Options Expand

Farmer Gives James Cromwell 100 Turkeys in Act of ‘Thanksgiving Mercy’

'Lesbos deserves better': pioneering aid project unites locals and migrants

IKEA Store In Italy Opens Its Door To Protect Stray Dogs In Winter

Extinction Rebellion: I’m an academic embracing direct action to stop climate change

Arnold Schwarzenegger: I’ve Given Up Meat For The Benefit Of Humanity

125 PHOTO Collection: "The Way it Should Be" ~ Humans Embracing Animals

Vegan Crops Produce 1900% More Protein Than Raising Animals for Beef or Eggs, Study Finds

Americans Voted Overwhelmingly to Protect Wild Places

Keystone XL pipeline: Judge halts construction and says Trump administration 'simply discarded' environmental impact

Scotland to embed LGBTI teaching across curriculum

Pennsylvania: New law makes leaving dogs out in the cold a felony

California Votes to Enact Strongest Farmed Animal Protections in the US

Jean Paul Gaultier becomes latest designer to ban fur from its collections

Irish authorities investigate UFO sightings by commercial pilots

[Juan]

It’s not possible to eat all plants, but this photographer shows you which ones you can.
Jimmy Fike sees his archive as a reliable guide for people to identify edible plants around them and to encourage them to rethink their spiritual relationship with the plant kingdom. He exposes all parts of the plant, highlighting the edible parts in color.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/photograp...s-you-can/

[Juan]

Many cities now recognise the need to strengthen relationships with local farmers as a way to increase the resilience of their food supplies to climate change and make efficient use of scarce natural resources.

Retaining food production close to urban areas can reduce food shortages if transport routes into the city are cut off (for example, by a major storm or flood). Recycled water from city water treatment plants can also be used to grow food during a drought, and food waste can be processed into organic fertilisers for use on nearby farms. https://theconversation.com/feeding-citi...nce-106162

[Juan]

Biopesticides are pesticides made from substances found in nature that offer a less toxic alternative to man-made chemicals. As a class they’ve been used for a long time, but most traditional biopesticides haven’t been able to compete with synthetic pesticides on cost and effectiveness. Researchers around the world now are working to change that by manipulating chemicals found in plants, animals, bacteria and fungi. They’re discovering new ways to use nature’s arsenal to build better biopesticides and so reduce the need for less environmentally friendly pest control. The idea was that, unlike man-made chemicals, the venom peptides wouldn’t leave residues that could persist in the environment for years, and because they targeted specific types of insects, they wouldn’t harm fish, reptiles, birds or mammals.
https://ensia.com/articles/biopesticides...t-control/

[Juan]

Patagonia will owe less in taxes this year—$10 million less, in fact. Instead of putting the money back into our business, we’re responding by putting $10 million back into the planet. Our home planet needs it more than we do.  We recognize that our planet is in peril. We are committing all $10 million to groups committed to protecting air, land and water and finding solutions to the climate crisis. We have always funded grassroots activism, and this $10 million will be on top of our ongoing 1% for the Planet giving. It will go a long way toward funding grassroots groups; including those dedicated to regenerative organic agriculture, which may be our greatest hope for reversing the damage done to our overheated planet. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/our-urgen...-marcario/

[Juan]

Forest coverage has grown to 13.57 percent from 5.05 percent in 1977 in areas where China's Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program was implemented, according to a meeting on the program held in Beijing Friday. http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-11...642405.htm

[Cyan]

Atlantis found?

[Juan]

Rewilding is essential to the UK’s commitments on climate change
Britain, without human interference, would be covered by mature oak woodland with some hazel, birch and pine further north. But England’s forest cover dropped as low as 5% after the World War I, prompting the government to set up the Forestry Commission, which has helped increase forest cover over the last 80 years to nearly 10%.
Reforestation success in China
Massive reforestation is not a pipe dream – there are excellent examples of it being done in the recent past. In the late 1990s environmental deterioration in China became critical, with vast areas resembling the dust bowl of the American Mid-west in the 1930s. Six large forest programmes were introduced during the late 1990s and early 2000s, targeting over 100m hectares of land for reforestation.
The ongoing programme also helped to alleviate poverty, as payments are made directly to farmers who set aside their land for reforestation The Grain for Green programme shows that widespread reforestation can have a very positive affect on the economy as well as the environment.
https://theconversation.com/cop24-rewild...nge-107541

[flofrog]

Really cool
http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/leonard...4d5cbcaa5d

[Juan]

Family farmers in Mexico are "generating an evolutionary service that is essential for them, for the country and, given the global importance of maize, for the world.”

Scientists say this type of farming, fueled by traditional practices such as saving or sharing seeds from one season to the next, has resulted in Mexico’s 59 native maize varieties: a cornucopia of husks and cobs of all sizes and colors, from deep purple to creamy-white to pink to glowing orange. This diversity is rarely seen in the U.S.—the world’s largest producer of corn. “You go to a farm in Iowa and there may be three million plants, but they’re all genetically identical.” Because American farmers buy their seeds instead of cultivating their own, “there’s no chance for evolution to do its thing.” https://popularresistance.org/small-farm...ity-alive/

[Juan]

“Electrochemical water splitting driven by electricity sourced from renewable energy technology has been identified as one of the most sustainable methods of producing high-purity hydrogen.”
Professor O’Mullane said the new composite material he and PhD student Ummul Sultana had developed enabled electrochemical water splitting into hydrogen and oxygen using cheap and readily available elements as catalysts. “With a lot of cheaply ‘made’ hydrogen we can feed fuel cell-generated electricity back into the grid when required during peak demand or power our transportation system and the only thing emitted is water.”
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/....201870306

[Juan]

Peru’s public organizations are cleaning up their act, one plastic bag at a time. A new decree was passed by the federal government to make it so no state entity in the country continues to use styrofoam, plastic bags, straws, or other similar types of plastic that are not biodegradable. https://perureports.com/peru-plastic-bag...ctor/8642/

[Juan]

Never ever underestimate the intelligence of Mother Nature.

A strange thing has been observed among the young female elephants of Mozambique’s Gorongosa National Park: About a third of them never developed tusks.

While tusklessness is not unheard of in female African elephants, normally it would only happen in about two to four percent of them. The tuskless crew in question here are amongst the first generation born after the end of Mozambique’s 15-year-long civil war, a war in which much was financed through the slaughter of elephants for ivory. Ninety percent of the area’s elephants were killed, yet those without tusks survived. And now they’ve passed the trait on to their daughters. https://www.treehugger.com/animals/plot-...chers.html