Today’s Solutions: January 16, 2025

Education

Great minds lead to great solutions. Our education section features solutions and innovations directed at strengthening educational systems around the world.

The discovery of ancient sippy

The discovery of ancient sippy cups could explain prehistoric baby boom

Time for a little history lesson: In Southeastern Europe, starting around 7000 BC, people began farming and raising livestock after millennia of hunting and gathering. Archaeologists studying ancient human remains noticed that around the same time, populations in early farming cultures started to Read More...

These displaced coal miners ar

These displaced coal miners are finding new, greener work in beekeeping

Do coal miners really love mining coal—and therefore, advocate to keep coal mines open? Or is it that they need the income that coal mining gives them to support themselves and their families? For most miners, the latter is the truth, but as more coal mines across the country shut down despite a Read More...

Chicago’s public libraries a

Chicago’s public libraries are the latest to do away with overdue book fees

The city of Chicago’s public library system is the latest and the largest library system to do away with late fees for overdue materials. The change comes as a response to the fact that late charges were disproportionately affecting the city’s lower-income residents, one in three of which has Read More...

Fat Bear Week is the greatest

Fat Bear Week is the greatest thing you’ll see on the Internet today

Hibernating to skip the cold months of winter may sound lazy, but the fact of the matter is, bears have a lot of work to do to prepare for their long slumber. They have to eat, then eat some more, and then eat a little more. Well, basically they just eat nonstop until they look giant stuffed teddy Read More...

A polka-dotted zebra has been

A polka-dotted zebra has been captured on camera in Kenya

When we picture a zebra in our minds, we all think of the wild African horse with its eye-catching black and white stripes. You can imagine how strange it was then for photographer Frank Liu when he came across a zebra in Kenya that did not have the signature black and white stripes, but rather, a Read More...

University of California dives

University of California divests from fossil fuels to invest in the future

In a big win for environmental activists and renewable energy advocates, the University of California investment management team announced this week that it will divest from fossil fuels this month. We think this is terrific news! While the announcement is seen as a victory for those lobbying Read More...

New York City gives students t

New York City gives students the green light to walk out for youth led Climate Strike

The 1.1 million New York public school students will be excused from school to attend the Youth Climate Strike this Friday, September 20. The school board made the announcement via Twitter this week that students would not be punished for skipping class for the strike but would need to call in the Read More...

See the glorious way a desert

See the glorious way a desert grows when it rains

It has been nearly seven years since the residents of Sindh’s Thar desert, located in Pakistan, saw a decent amount of rainfall, but this year has been different. This year’s rains have transformed the harsh landscape and its inhabitants. Farmers are tilling their land, planting seeds, and Read More...

Bill Gates shares the formula

Bill Gates shares the formula to ensure total literacy across the world

As one of its sustainable development goals, the UN is shooting for total literacy among young people, as well as a large portion of adults, by 2030. The problem is that even with rapid technological advancements around the world, the learning environment and the quality of education are Read More...

Mass media is stepping up with

Mass media is stepping up with a “covering climate now” commitment

Journalists and newsrooms have wrestled with the right way to tell the climate story for almost thirty years. In fits and starts, newsrooms have covered climate change, suggested there was a reason for concern, backed off, named & renamed the crisis, and been challenged by misconceptions that Read More...