Veteran firefighter becomes hero after battling apartment fire

Good News Notes: “On May 13, Lt. Solomon Forbes was at his home with his children preparing for his son’s baseball game. A neighbor knocked on his door and said the apartment next door to him was on fire. As a 14-year veteran with the fire department, Forbes got his children out safely and then…

Indoor, vertical farming could feed the world — and space

Good News Notes: “As the global population continues to increase, vertical farming is becoming a more widely recognized and viable solution to our food production problem. Vertical farming is a type of indoor farming where crops are grown in stacked layers, rather than spread out across large plots of land. These futuristic farms aren’t just going to have an…

Israeli scientists find natural food supplement that could treat anxiety

Good News Notes: “A natural plant-derived food supplement could possibly be used to help reduce anxiety, according to a study from the  Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot. The substance, beta-sitosterol, was shown to reduce anxiety in mice and to produce this effect both by itself and in synergic combination with the antidepressant Prozac. Building off…

Petting therapy dogs enhances thinking skills of stressed college students

Good News Notes: “Programs exclusively focused on petting therapy dogs improved stressed-out students’ thinking and planning skills more effectively than programs that included traditional stress-management information, according to new Washington State University research. The study was published today in the journal AERA Open, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Educational Research Association. The paper demonstrated that…

Better Shelter creates housing for climate crisis refugees

Good News Notes: “Social enterprise Better Shelter creates emergency and temporary sustainable housing for communities displaced by the climate crisis. With pilot sites for its shelters, called ‘Structure’, currently in India, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Rwanda, its short-term solutions provide a sustainable response to the climate crisis that has left millions homeless. The company, based in Stockholm, Sweden, delivers modular…

Foster + Partners Unveils Multi-Generational, Sustainable Quarter In Bangkok

Good News Notes: “located on the outskirts of bangkok, thailand, ‘the forestias’ by foster + partners, takes shape as a new residential-led masterplan with a large forest as a focal point. the project approaches the coexistence between contemporary city life and the template of traditional thai houses, promoting flexible community spaces focused on the idea of well-being. in an…

Anchorage engineer plans to recycle ocean garbage into plastic lumber

Good News Notes: “The cost of lumber and other building materials is sky-high, and it’s even more expensive when shipped to small coastal communities in Alaska. Patrick Simpson of Anchorage has an idea that might help. He wants to create artificial lumber from an abundant material no one wants: Plastic ocean debris. Simpson, an engineer,…