The world is good

2021-11-11 05:11:58

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2021-11-11 05:11:16 Educating kindness

Science has shown that acts of kindness – such as helping someone in need, or giving to charity – improve our health, help build better relationships, and can even be contagious. Such acts promote the production of ‘feel-good’ chemicals like oxytocin, serotonin and dopamine in our brains.
That’s why the charity kindness.org is keen to promote kindness, and an understanding of the science behind it, in schools. The result will be happier students and more caring classrooms, they say – and society as a whole stands to benefit.

Its Learn Kind curriculum looks at the science of kindness, along with the development of skills such as self-awareness, empathy and emotional literacy. The pilot began in 2020, when it was taught in 15 countries, including the US, the UK and Thailand, reaching more than 38,500 students globally. Deemed a success, Learn Kind has now been adopted by 260 schools worldwide. Open / Comment

2021-11-09 00:37:23 Open / Comment

2021-11-09 00:37:19 World’s Longest Undersea Cable to Send Clean Energy From Morocco to the UK – Powering 7 Million Homes

A tiny English village is to become the center of a ”revolution” in the global energy industry and be connected to Morocco—with the world’s longest undersea cable.

The Xlinks Morocco-UK Power Project says it will import enough sun and wind-generated energy to the UK to supply seven million homes by 2030.

The plan would see 3,800km (2,361 miles) of subsea cabling connect Morocco’s renewable energy-rich Guelmim Oued Noun region with little Alverdiscott, near Barnstaple.

The new electricity generation facility, entirely powered by solar and wind energy combined with a battery storage facility, would cover about 1,500 square kilometers (579 square miles) in Morocco and then be connected to Britain via four HVDC (high voltage direct current) sub-sea cables.

These would plug into Alverdiscott which would host two 1.8GW connections.

Convertor stations in Morocco will change the high voltage alternating current (HVAC) power at the generation site to HVDC (High Voltage Direct Current).

This is then sent through the subsea cable to the converter station in North Devon which changes it back to high voltage power, ready to be injected into the British transmission network.

In total, four cables will form the twin 1.8GW HVDC subsea cable systems.

They will follow the shallow water route from Morocco to Alverdiscott, passing Spain, Portugal, and France.

A technical feasibility study has already been completed to validate the reliability and cost of the project.

The former Tesco boss is also raising £800 million ($1,080 million) to build three UK production facilities to tap into growing demand for the electric cables used for offshore wind farms and undersea interconnectors.

A spokesman for Xlinks said, “This ‘first of a kind’ project will generate 10.5GW of zero carbon electricity from the sun and wind to deliver 3.6GW of reliable energy for an average of 20+ hours a day.

Once complete, the project will be capable of supplying 8% of Great Britain’s electricity needs.

“Alongside the consistent output from its solar panels and wind turbines, an onsite 20GWh/5GW battery facility provides sufficient storage to reliably deliver each and every day, a dedicated, near-constant source of flexible and predictable clean energy for Britain, designed to complement the renewable energy already generated across the UK.” That’s exciting news indeed. Open / Comment

2021-11-07 13:04:16 Open / Comment

2021-11-07 13:04:07 How should countries, especially poor ones, go about making sure that people have access to healthy food?

Recent research from the Wits School of Public Health, the Health Systems Trust and the University of KwaZulu-Natal sheds fresh light on the problem, showing a proliferation of unhealthy food, particularly in poorer communities.
The analysis used a tool called the “modified retail food environment index” and show the proportion of food retailers in Gauteng that were “healthy” and what proportion were “unhealthy”.

One possible strategy is to introduce policies that limit the number of fast-food outlets in communities.
Local governments have extensive powers over planning and zoning. They could be required to consider the impact on the food environment when granting zoning approvals or business licenses.
This would require filling a gap in municipal bylaws. For example, the City of Johannesburg municipality has passed two bylaws regulating informal or street trading and one on spatial planning. But neither of these link municipal planning obligations to the placement of food retailers. This gap can be filled by explicitly taking saturation or scarcity of different food retailers into account. This could include, for example, creating a zoning exemption or special approval for healthy retailers.

Alternatively, national level policies can better guide implementation at a local level. This would require governments to adapt existing business licensing and planning frameworks to take into account the lack of healthy food retailers in a particular area. For example, the framework used to grant business licenses is set out in national legislation, the Business Act, but implemented by local governments. This framework might require conditions that are more stringent for food retailers before they set up shop.

Local governments have already exercised this kind of power to further public health. Cape Town passed a law that prohibited smoking within a certain distance of doors and open windows.

Municipalities could also put regulations in place that restrict the sale of unhealthy food near schools. In addition, they could incentivise retailers to move to under-served areas. Steps like this are already being explored and are set out in detail by the World Health Organisation guidelines. Open / Comment

2021-11-04 11:20:53 Open / Comment

2021-11-04 11:20:46 We are not alone: First possible star-revolving planet found outside our galaxy

The search beyond our own galaxy never fails to keep uncovering new and exciting things about our mysterious universe. One of the most recent potential discoveries is a planet in the Messier 51 (M51) or Whirlpool galaxy. What makes this planet, named M51-ULS-1b, so special is the fact it transmits a star, just like our planet revolves around the Sun. These are termed exoplanets, and before last week, no exoplanets outside our Milky Way had been discovered.

Astronomers use the European Space Agency’s XMM-Newton space telescope and NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory to search for these types of planets beyond the Milky Way. Sifting through 55 different galaxies, the team spotted the special planet due to the fact it briefly blocked light and X-ray emissions whilst transitioning in front of the star. These techniques have been utilized to pick up planets to 3,000 light-years all over our galaxy. Though M51 is 28 million light-years away, quite a distance further!

Using the data collected from the X-ray Observatory, the planet has been estimated to be around the size of Saturn and be positioned around twice as far as the ringed giant is from the Sun.

This discovery has the potential to trigger a new era of planet detection and study, allowing more puzzle pieces of the universe to come together. Although M51-ULS-1b will not orbit around its star again for another 70 years, so we have to wait a long time to double check if these results truly are correct. Co-author Julia Berndtsson added a statement about this issue “We know we are making an exciting and bold claim so we expect that other astronomers will look at it very carefully … We think we have a strong argument, and this process is how science works.” Open / Comment

2021-11-03 12:30:45 Open / Comment

2021-11-03 12:30:36 New French law helps independent bookstores compete with online retailers

A French law passed in 2014 that prohibits retailers from discounting new books has helped small bookstores survive amidst heavy competition from powerful online retailers. However, the owners of independent shops are still at a disadvantage because online marketplace giants such as Amazon have managed to evade this law by allowing customers to pay just one cent for shipping.

That’s why France has adopted new legislation that sets a minimum price for book deliveries to further protect small independent bookstores by leveling the playing field.

There is something special about being able to see real books in a shop, an experience that is at the risk of becoming extinct if we don’t work to preserve independent bookstores. According to a small bookstore owner, Americans and other tourists are surprised that her shop still exists and tell her how beautiful it is to visit a bookstore in the flesh, as many of the ones in their own countries have been shoved out of the market by online competitors.

Amazon fought hard against the new legislation, which is yet to be enacted, arguing that it would hurt residents who live in rural areas who cannot easily access a physical bookshop. However, consumer attitudes seem to say otherwise, as many say they understand why the shipping cost is there and don’t mind paying for it while supporting a local business.

“The price of books should be the same everywhere,” says one bookshop customer. “If there are offers online, they also have to take into account the shipping costs, so it’s normal to have to pay a little bit more if we want to have books delivered.”

Bookstores have historically been important places of gathering and idea-sharing in France and around the world, and for bookworms everywhere, small independent bookstores are nestled lovingly in their hearts. Many hope that this new legislation will help independent bookstores meet their online competitors and will allow them to survive for years to come. Open / Comment