This Boston-based nonprofit pays former gang members to go to college
Founded in 2009, College Bound Dorchester is a Boston-based nonprofit that supports formerly incarcerated, gang-involved, or otherwise at-risk residents as they get an education, whether high school equivalency or a college degree. In 2016, the nonprofit launched Boston Uncornered, a program that Read More...
If you’ve always wanted to write a book, here’s how to start
COVID-19 has all of us picking up new hobbies. If you’ve always wanted to write a book, here’s how. Carve out time to write and actually start writing. This doesn’t have to be an entire day or even an entire afternoon. If you have a free hour after dinner or in the morning when you Read More...
A major whaling company in Iceland is hanging up its harpoons for good
For decades the whale populations have been in decline, but this past year has seen a number of key developments that suggest whale populations are rebounding. In October, we published a story about southwest Atlantic humpback whales, which have returned from the brink of extinction after excessive Read More...
New excavations show that the Romans were avid recyclers
The ancient Romans are credited with many of our modern-day amenities including indoor heating, sewer systems, urban planning, and concrete. New evidence shows that they were even pioneers of recycling. A team of researchers at Pompeii discovered piles of trash outside the city walls. What Read More...
Sitting a lot? Here’s how to keep your back pain-free
Humans have developed a habit of being overly sedentary, and we’re afraid coronavirus lockdowns aren’t exactly helping. NYC-based Physiotherapist Charlotte Sayers told Greatist that most of her clients are complaining of new low back pains since they’ve started working from home. “Our backs Read More...
Crime survivors are turning pain into power to reimagine the justice system
Does a criminal justice system that prioritizes punishment over rehabilitation perpetuate a cycle of violence and inequality? The Alliance for Safety and Justice, a national group of crime survivors, thinks so. America's criminal justice system is one of the most obvious displays of pervasive Read More...
Deaths from air pollution are plummeting as coronavirus lockdowns clean air
Although coronavirus has taken thousands of lives, the improved air quality that has come as a result of the lockdowns has led to 11,000 fewer deaths from pollution in the UK and elsewhere in Europe, a new study has revealed. Sharp falls in road traffic and industrial emissions have also Read More...
The number of critically endangered orange-bellied parrots has soared
There has been little good to say about the recent history of the critically endangered orange-bellied parrot. Numbers of the small migratory bird, which makes a return trip from Tasmania’s south-west wilderness to the mainland’s coastal scrubland each year, have fallen so sharply scientists Read More...