Welcome to the week!
And happy April! I’ll spare you the April Fools prank today (my feed was inundated with them this morning). Let’s get to the news!
This week:
🔋Battery recycling challenges
🦠Gut bacteria and autoimmune diseases
🥕Medically tailored meals
🤖Empathetic AI
And more
Have a great week,
— Willow
This is science for people who give a shit.
Every week, we help 28,000+ humans understand and unfuck the rapidly changing world around us. It feels great, and we’d love for you to join us.
New Shit Giver Troy wants to “clean up the world’s drinking water.“
This is at the top of our list! Check out this week’s Action Steps to get started.
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⚡️ Climate change:
🌍 The International Maritime Organization has committed to creating a global carbon price by charging a fee to shipping companies for every ton of carbon emitted
🌍 Last year, China installed record numbers of solar and wind power — so much that they’re looking for solutions to deal with the abundance of energy
Batteries are key to the energy transition, and to meet our net-zero goals we’re going to need a lot of them (and the critical minerals that go into them). Why is recycling them so hard?
Rates of anxiety, depression, ADHD, PTSD, and Alzheimer’s are on the rise. Could that be linked to climate change?
Feeling overwhelmed by all the doom? Here’s some insight into how to cope
🦠 Health & Bio:
Bacteria in your gut can alter antibodies so that your body’s defenses don’t recognize them, potentially leading to kidney autoimmune disease
More states are considering broadening policies to cover fertility treatment for LGBTQ+ couples
🌏 We should normalize mandating indoor air quality performance standards in public buildings
Puerto Rico is the latest region to declare a public health emergency due to large outbreaks of dengue fever
💦 Food & Water:
Bayer is trying to stop pesticide lawsuits, by influencing farming legislation one state at a time
The Food is Medicine Coalition has released an accreditation standard focusing on “medically tailored meals” that specifically address conditions like HIV and heart failure
🌍 Palm oil is in everything spreadable, and it’s still contributing to mass deforestation in Indonesia
🌍 Day Zero for Mexico City is probably not going to happen anytime soon, but water shortages are getting worse. Here’s why that’s happening, and what that means for the people living there
👩💻 Beep Boop:
How secure are your kids smart toys? Check out how you can test them for privacy yourself
Hume AI has a new chatbot, EVI, that responds “empathically” to the tone of your voice
🌍 AI companies say that the supply of high-quality text data to develop AI could be outstripped by demand in a couple of years (in other words, the internet isn’t big enough)
🌎 AI uses as much energy as a small country, and that’s expected to double by 2026. Here’s how we can be better consumers of this tech
🌎 = Global news
Last week’s most popular Action Step was supporting diversity in AI by donating to Women in AI Ethics.
🌍 Donate to Charity Water to help bring clean and safe drinking water to the many millions of people living without it.
Volunteer with Food & Water Watch to fight for safe food, clean water, and a livable climate.
🌎 Get educated about the solutions and challenges to the water scarcity crisis by following the in depth reporting at Circle of Blue.
Be heard about clean drinking water and tell Congress to support the WATER Act.
🌍 Invest in companies developing solutions to water problems at scale through Burnt Island Ventures.
🌎 = Global Action Step
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The best clothes dryer you can buy
Electricity is expensive af right now, so even if you already have an electric dryer instead of a gas one (which you probably do), switching to an efficient heat pump dryer can save you cash.
Get our recommendations below 👇
What is antimicrobial resistance (AMR)?
AMR (not ASMR, but you can pretend I’m whispering this if that soothes you while you read, because not going to lie, it’s alarming) could become the leading cause of death worldwide by 2050.
So yeah, it’s important that we understand it and how we can prevent it. Read our explainer to get a 101 👇
Early results show a 90% reduction in seizure frequency post-treatment. Read the full story 👇
🙋♀️ Vote!
In last week’s poll, 42% of you said buying organic food is “somewhat important” to you.
Should the Department of Education make national standards for indoor and outdoor air quality?
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