Good news for humankind

Good News for Humankind 🌏 Get a spark. Be the spark. Guatemala, Mexico, and Belize to protect 14 million acres of Mayan forest Leaders from Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize have unveiled formal plans to establish the Great Mayan Jungle Biocultural Corridor, a transnational conservation initiative spanning over 14 million acres of tropical forest. This corridor will become the second-largest protected area in the Americas, following only the Amazon. The initiative aims to combat deforestation,...

Good News for Humankind 🌏 Get a spark. Be the spark. Vermont plastic bag use dropped 91% following ban Vermont banned single-use plastic bags in July 2020, after lawmakers passed the measure in 2019 to curb mounting plastic pollution. A study from the University of Vermont found the ban reduced plastic bag use by 91%, with most residents shifting to reusable bags despite a small rise in paper use. Public support has remained strong, with 70% of Vermonters backing the law, and researchers...

Good News for Humankind 🌏 The world's latest milestones for climate, justice, peace, and more 5 May 2025 C.E. #1 For the first time, an entire country’s top political roles are held by women after Trinidad & Tobago’s recent elections Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s election victory means that she will become prime minister for the second time since 2010. Pennelope Beckles-Robinson will be sworn in as the opposition leader. Once they are sworn in by President Christine Kangaloo, the Caribbean island...

The dual nature of genius In a previous post, I talked about how we might think of genius as a guiding spirit. In another, I described it as a creative power. Here, I discuss how both can be true, how genius has a dual nature. For the past few centuries, physicists have been perplexed by the apparent dual nature of light. In some scenarios, light behaves as a particle. In other cases, light behaves as a wave. It’s as if light is both a particle and a wave at the very same time. Genius might...

Good News for Humankind 🌏 The world's latest milestones for climate, justice, freedom, peace, health, and more 28 April 2025 C.E. #1 Over 12 million malaria deaths averted globally since 2000 Global malaria prevention efforts have paid off in a big way, preventing an estimated 2.2 billion cases and 12.7 million deaths in the last 25 years. In 2023 alone, more than 177 million cases and 1 million deaths were averted, the vast majority of them – 80% of cases and 94% of deaths – in Africa....

Harnessing your unique creative power Over the last few articles, I’ve been exploring the concept of genius. In this conception, genius is not what separates special humans from the rest, but what distinguishes humans from other life on Earth. We humans have an innate ability to invent new ideas, values, and ways of being. We have an innate ability to evolve ourselves. Genius is that creative power. Here, I continue exploring how we can each articulate and harness our own unique flavor of...

Good News for Humankind 🌏 The world's latest milestones for climate, justice, freedom, peace, health, and more 21 April 2025 C.E. #1 Countries reach historic deal to cut shipping emissions After years of negotiations, the international community has reached a landmark deal to cut greenhouse gas emissions from global shipping, setting mandatory fuel standards and introducing a carbon pricing mechanism. The framework – agreed during a meeting of the U.N. International Maritime Organization –...

Embodying our personal values We all have our own genius– the unique creative essence we are born with. I think of genius as having at least three core ingredients: passions, talents, and personal values. In the previous piece, I discussed passions and talents. Here, I unpack personal values. Beyond right and wrong Humans from a wide range of cultures and traditions have a long history of dividing the world into “good” and “bad” or “right” and “wrong.” We hold certain beliefs or behaviors as...

Good News for Humankind 🌏 The world's latest milestones for climate, justice, freedom, peace, health, and more 14 April 2025 C.E. #1 Renewable energy now handles 40% of global electricity needs According to a new report from U.K. think tank Ember, clean energy accounted for 40.9% of electricity produced worldwide in 2024. The push past the 40% mark was fueled by an unprecedented growth in solar, significant contributions from wind, a recovery in hydropower, and a small rise in nuclear power....

Good News for Humankind 🌏 The world's latest milestones for climate, justice, freedom, peace, health, and more 7 April 2025 C.E. #1 California now has more EV charging ports than gas nozzles California has steadily amassed its EV charging network with both public and private charging ports over the last few years. In 2024, California boasted 178,500 total EV ports compared to around 120,000 estimated gas nozzles, according to the California Energy Commission. The number of accessible chargers...