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In the headlines...

🪧 Families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza are now calling for a nationwide labor strike on Sunday to demand an agreement that secures a ceasefire and releases their relatives. (Gifted link)

✈️ Nearly 500 reserve and retired Israeli Air Force pilots gathered outside the military’s headquarters in Tel Aviv yesterday in the largest-ever antiwar protest involving former and reserve military pilots. (Video)

Housing

A new neighborhood in Texas brings 3D-printed affordable housing closer to reality in the U.S.

One of the world’s leading 3D-printing companies, Icon is constructing three new homes in Texas for low-income individuals as part of a larger 3D-printed community in Austin.

With hybrid construction, the first floor will be entirely 3D-printed and combine a living room, dining area, and kitchen, while the second floor will use traditional construction methods and include a bedroom and bathroom.

A $195,000 starting price tag might not sound affordable, but the other 3D-printed homes built nearby are priced around $350,000 and up to $1.3 million.

Why is this good news? While the rollout of this new home-building technology has been slow, its benefits hold true: they are more insulated, helping regulate temperature fluctuations and energy use, are resistant to water, mold, termites, and fire, and when a project finally gets underway, they’re much quicker to construct.

Add in the affordability element, and that’s good progress to celebrate.

→ Read more​

More Good News

​Brad Paisley & Kimberly Williams-Paisley launched a free vet clinic to help Nashville pets and their parents. Veterinary care costs are especially prohibitive to lower-income pet owners, so the two teamed up with The Companion Project to host a pop-up and served over 200 local pets with essential veterinary care.

​Boston launched a new pilot program to give young adults facing homelessness $1,200 cash every month for two years. Program participants will also receive two and a half years of supportive services, like a navigator who helps young people identify and access the resources they need, as well as financial coaching — but there will be no penalty for not using them.

​Scientists developed a method that trains AI to detect costly invasive plant species more effectively. One invasive, leafy spurge is a noxious weed with small green flowers that can render whole hayfields inedible by crowding out native plants. Researchers estimate that it causes more than $35 million in losses annually in the country’s beef and hay production.

​A French architect is creating durable, concrete-free bricks out of textile waste. Clarisse Merlet’s initial inspiration for recycling clothes did not stem from the textile industry’s significant waste but rather from the desire to construct bricks without using carbon-intensive concrete.

Governments doing good

States are putting guardrails around artificial intelligence, despite a lack of federal regulation

→ ​​​​​​​​Here’s how​

good data

Death rates from cardiovascular disease have fallen dramatically in recent decades

While still the leading cause of death worldwide, the risk of dying from cardiovascular diseases has declined dramatically since 1950. In just the U.S., for people of the same age, the annual risk of dying from cardiovascular disease is now one-quarter what it was then.

Cardiovascular diseases refer to conditions that impact the heart and blood vessels, like heart disease and stroke.

This incredible progress is thanks to critical research, surgical advances, public health efforts, and lifestyle changes that have led to far fewer people dying from strokes or heart attacks. That decline is also seen across all age groups.

→ Read more​

More Good bits

🦽 A travel expert has proof that kindness is everywhere.

🇫🇮 The Finns reached zero traffic deaths ... and will tell you how.

🎭 A theater company was created by and for gender-expansive artists.

🔭 Coral-like flower rocks on Mars? How curious.

🎶 There’s a new standard for how to treat your fans at a concert. (TikTok)

What’s good?

I’m sooo excited to see that new housing construction method reaching levels of affordability — we need it!

It’d be a change but ... would you live in a 3D-printed home?

Reply and tell me your move-in date! :)

— Megan