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Science

Student helps create a 3D printed, microplastic-eating fish that can clean lakes

This is brilliant.

microplastics

Gillbert won the Natural Robotics Contest this year.

Robots might have a place in the natural world after all, especially when they can help save it.

Participants of this year’s Natural Robotics Contest were asked to design a robot that was inspired by an animal and could help the world. The winner would have their idea brought to life by a group of senior engineers and scientists.

While entries included mosquitos, eagles and bears (oh my), the grand prize title was claimed by student Eleanor Mackintosh for her microplastic-eating fish, affectionately and fittingly named Gillbert.
Gillbert’s design includes layers of mesh attached to his gills, which make up most of his flooded head unit and sieve out tiny particles. He also comes with a fully functioning fishy tail.Once he’s 3D printed, he becomes just about the cutest looking robo-carp ever. I almost expect him to start singing “Don’t Worry Be Happy.” Maybe that’ll be a Gillbert 2.0 feature

Much like a real fish, Gillbert swims with his mouth agape. Once he’s full of water, his mouth closes and water is pushed through his gills while his body retains any remaining microplastics, thus leaving local lakes cleaner than before he came swimming along.

Microplastics pose a huge threat to the ecosystems of bodies of water. In addition to a commitment to less pollution, we have to find ways to eliminate what remains. So far, people have come up with several ingenious solutions, such as giant trash-collecting fences that work as a dam, as well as other plastic-eating robots similar to Gillbert.

Humans can do a lot of collective damage, but our creativity can do so much more collective good.


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We’ve all been hearing urgent warnings from scientists, government, and corporate leaders on the need to limit the planet's global temperature warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius to avoid the most devastating impacts of climate change.

Several studies, including research from the National Academy of Sciences indicate if we continue on the path we are on, we will likely hit that pivotal moment of global warming in the early 2030s. It’s clear that more needs to be done —and faster—to avoid the worst impacts of climate change and secure a thriving and sustainable economy for everyone.

Broader research is also showing people care more than ever about what companies are doing to address this challenge. In a 2022 global survey from IBM, 51% of respondents said environmental sustainability is more important to them now than it was the year before. And a 2022 Yale survey found that 51% of U.S. business students would even take lower pay to work for a company with better environmental practices — a signal of the topic's importance.

T-Mobile is an example of a company that has led the wireless industry in these efforts starting with its pledge in 2018 to source 100% of its total electricity usage with renewable energy and being the first in U.S. wireless to set science-based carbon reduction goals and then reach them in 2021. This year, T-Mobile stepped up even more by becoming the first U.S. wireless provider to announce a net-zero target for its entire carbon footprint.

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Stop what you're doing. There's a dog that looks just like Snoopy.

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Snoopy is Charlie Brown's pet from the comic strip "Peanuts" that eventually spawned several movies and cartoon series, and Bayley is a dead ringer for the black and white animated pup. Since we live in a digital age, people across the country have been falling all over themselves to get to the pooch's Instagram account and admire her cartoonish mug.

Bayley is a 1-year-old mini sheepadoodle, which is a cross between a miniature poodle and an Old English Sheepdog. Her sweet face is something you have to see to believe and even then you may question if she's real.

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Pop Culture

Resurfaced interview clip shows Billie Eilish opening up about her Tourette Syndrome

The singer was in an interview with David Letterman when she began ticking.

"Still Watching Netflix"/Youtube

During an interview with David Letterman, Eilish began visibly having tics.

We’ve come a long way in our understanding and representation of chronic conditions. However, certain disorders, like Tourette Syndrome, remain mostly under mystery and stigma.

Symptoms of Tourette Syndrome revolve around involuntary, repetitive movements or sounds known as “tics,” such as facial grimacing, twitching, humming, jerking the head and yelling out phrases or even swear words. These behaviors, which aren’t the norm in most social interactions, have often been the punchline of a joke or resulted in bullying.

Over the years, several celebrities have come forward revealing themselves as having Tourette Syndrome in an effort to raise awareness of the neurological disorder, perhaps the most well known being pop idol Billie Eilish.

A year ago in May 2022, Eilish sat down for an interview with David Letterman for his Netflix show “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction” when she began visibly ticking. The conversation that sprung from that moment has recently resurfaced online, and it is a still great example of how we can avoid misconceptions with sensitivity.
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Howie Hua shares helpful math tips and tricks on social media.

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Democracy

Mississippi's 'Confederate Heritage Month' is wrong and needs to end now

Let's talk about why applying words like "honor" and "heritage" to the Confederacy is ridiculous.

Photo by Jen Theodore on Unsplash

April Confederate Heritage Month in Mississippi

Governor Tate Reeves of Mississippi has declared April as Confederate Heritage Month in the Magnolia State, marking the 30th year of this ridiculous and wrong "tradition."

If you're wondering how the state's leadership justifies something so backwards in 2023, here are the three reasons listed for recognizing Confederate Heritage Month in the official proclamation:

1) April is when the Civil War, "the costliest and deadliest" war ever fought on American soil, began. (Um, y'all know the Confederates were the ones who started this costly and deadly war, right?)

2) State law designates the last Monday in April as Confederate Memorial Day, "to honor those who served in the Confederacy." (To honor those who did what, now? Served in the Confederacy? So you're not merely memorializing those who tragically died fighting for a wrong-headed, racist cause, but you're "honoring" anyone who "served" that cause? Interesting.)

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Two dogs have long distance relationship over FaceTime.

When we think about romance and soulmates, we are generally thinking about people, not dogs. But it turns out these two dogs are completely smitten with each other and have the internet calling them "relationship goals." Rollo and Sadie met during the pandemic when their owners moved into apartments in the same building in Canada. According to Sadie's owner, Kayla McTeer, it was love at first sight for the Husky German Shepherd mix.

McTeer told CNN that Sadie didn't really get along well with other dogs, but when she met Rollo, "She whined and cried and laid down on her back like she just met the love of her life."

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Science

'Tree Mountain' is a giant man-made forest and living work of art with a powerful message

The concept came from Agnes Denes, an artist known for her unique, thought-provoking and grand-scale creations.

"Tree Mountain" by Agnes Denes

We live in a world where there is more art to consume than ever. There’s no shortage of musical mashups, digital paintings, song covers, cosplay videos, and so on and on and on and on. While having visual and audio exposure to various forms of art is lovely, when we only experience art through an online platform, we sometimes sacrifice that powerful feeling of immersion, of being able to come face to face with a creation and truly be moved by an artist’s message. There’s a subtle, yet undeniable change that happens both internally and externally when you step into something with the intention to inspire. Honestly, it’s the closest thing to real world alchemy that we've got.

Agnes Denes might not be a name that regularly comes up on your feed, but she’s made an entire career out of creating art that provides this kind of visceral, profound effect.

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