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Good News for Humankind

The world’s latest milestones for climate, justice, freedom, peace, health, and more

November 11 – 17 2024 C.E.

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Hi beautiful people,

I am thrilled to announce that Adhara “Addy” Jimenez-Banse of Orange County, New York has accepted our second-ever ​coaching scholarship​. We began our work together this week and will continue on for the next three months.

A little about Addy in her own words:

“My name is Adhara Jimenez-Banse, and I hold a Master’s degree in Social Work. I run a program that provides after-school activities based on the 4-H tenets in Orange County, NY. As a mother of two boys aged 16 and 18, I’m deeply committed to nurturing the next generation. My biggest passion is helping others lead better lives, and I find joy in swimming and spending time at the beach.

What are my core values? Compassion: I believe in the power of empathy and kindness to uplift others and foster a supportive community. Empowerment: I strive to empower individuals, particularly youth, to reach their full potential through education and support. Integrity: I value honesty and transparency in my work, essential for building trust with those I serve.

What are my dreams? In the short term, I aspire to enhance and expand the after-school program, ensuring it meets the diverse needs of the youth in my community. In the long term, I dream of creating a broader impact through social work, advocating for systemic change that improves the lives of those facing challenges. Ultimately, I hope to inspire others to pursue their passions and lead fulfilling lives.”

If you’re interested in pursuing a future coaching scholarship with us, drop me a line!

Love, Peter

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Calendar

• ​GET S*** DONE: Work Group​ on Monday, November 18 at 12:30-2pm PT (online)
• ​Bellingham Men’s Circle​ on Monday, November 18 from 6-8pm PT (in-person)

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​China activates world’s largest offshore floating solar installation​

China’s state-owned CHN Energy has begun generating electricity at a 1 gigawatt offshore floating solar park, 5 miles off the coast of the city of Dongying in Shandong province. The park can generate 1.78 billion kilowatt-hours of power each year — enough to meet the energy needs of 2.6 million city dwellers. The offshore floating solar installation consists of 2,934 PV platforms installed using large-scale steel truss platforms affixed to foundations made of pilings.

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​Hobbyist beekeepers help reverse America’s critical bee shortage in just 5 years​

Nearly a million bee colonies have been formed in the past five years, according to 2022 Census of Agriculture data from the USDA, boosting the total number of colonies to an all-time high of 3.8 million. The record high has arrived after nearly 20 years of collapsing colonies, where bees died from exposure to poisonous pesticides, stress from cross-country transit to pollinate crops, invasive pests, and changes to habitat.

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​Brazil renews plan to restore 30 million acres of degraded land​

Brazil recently announced a plan to restore an area of degraded land about half the size of the U.K. by 2030, in a bid to combat climate change and biodiversity loss. The Planaveg 2.0 initiative, launched at the U.N. biodiversity summit, COP16, in Colombia on Oct. 28, aims to restore 30 million acres, about half of Brazil’s degraded land area. Home to 15-18% of the world’s known species, Brazil is the most biodiverse nation on Earth, making it a key player in global ecosystem restoration.

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​Tulsa elects its first Black mayor​

Monroe Nichols will become the first Black mayor of Tulsa. Nichols, a state representative, edged out Tulsa County Commissioner Karen Keith in a runoff election to become the mayor of Oklahoma’s second-largest city. Nichols’ election comes 103 years after the Tulsa Race Massacre, when a white racist mob, including some deputized by authorities, descended on the city’s Greenwood District, also known as Black Wall Street. They burned down homes and businesses, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 75 to 300 Black residents.

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​Chase Strangio to be the first openly trans lawyer to present to the Supreme Court​

Strangio is the co-director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s LGBTQ & HIV Project, having played an instrumental role in guiding the organization through numerous trans-related legal battles. He was additionally part of the team that won a legal battle against a ban on trans care with the case Brandt v. Rutledge, representing four families with trans youth. He will make his debut on December 4 in U.S. v. Skrmetti, a case that will decide transgender rights in the country for years to come.

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​Japanese researchers develop world-first stem-cell treatment that restores vision in humans​

Kohji Nishida, an ophthalmologist at Osaka University in Japan, and his colleagues used an alternative source of cells — induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells — to make the corneal transplants. They took blood cells from a healthy donor and reprogrammed them into an embryonic-like state, then transformed them into a thin, transparent sheet of cobblestone-shaped corneal epithelial cells. After the transplants, all four recipients showed immediate improvements in their vision and a reduction in the area of the cornea affected by limbal stem-cell deficiency. The improvements persisted in all but one recipient, who showed slight reversals during a one-year observation period.

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​Groundbreaking laser tech enables faster, safer landmine detection​

Researchers at the University of Mississippi have come up with a faster, more efficient method for detecting landmines – millions of which pose a lethal threat to people in war-ravaged countries all over the world. That could spell a safer future for people who live in 70 current and former war-torn countries around the world that are riddled with an estimated 110 million active landmines. These explosives caused 2,793 deaths globally in 2017, and that number tragically rose to 4,710 in 2022.

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These milestones have been added to the ​Archive of Human Genius​ – our database of social change milestones – past, present & future.