The Common Ground Project is a regenerative farm and social enterprise just outside Geelong that promotes food security by creating fair access to locally grown, healthy food. The farm has regenerated degraded pasture land into fertile and productive land. The farm not only offers an inclusive space for growing, but also cooking, knowledge sharing, and ongoing community collaboration. Common Ground Project provides hands-on workshops, training and employment pathways through Food Knowledge programs, which directly support Food Relief efforts in the Geelong region. https://www.commongroundproject.com.au/
Emergency services (or even your friends at a festival) often struggle to find people when there is no exact address. In rural locations, on a beach or in the bush for example.Here's a way to communicate your exact location to within a few square metres. Three words can locate you anywhere in the world. This service is being adopted by an increasing number of organisations. Try it out!https://what3words.com/
Unfortunately, uncleared minefields are still a serious problem in many parts of the world. An Australian developed Magnetic Resonance system by CSIRO and manufactured and distributed by RFC Ambrian is set to allow more efficient land mine detection. Known as MRead, the technology is not affected by other metal in the ground such as shrapnel and for the first time can detect land mines made entirely of plastic. Land mines can be cleared allowing people to return to normal life without the fear of these devices. Photo: prototype MRead system in testing.https://newatlas.com/good-thinking/mread-magnetic-resonance-land-mine-detection/
Longitudinal data shows an encouraging trend over the past decades. Simon Kuestenmacher writes that collectively we are richer, healthier, more peaceful, more environmentally aware and intellectually more capable than ever before. Gen Z is outrageously well-educated, tech-savvy, and capable of thinking systemically (granted, they are young and don’t know much stuff yet, but their intellectual framework is impressive). Even considering the climate challenge the future is in good hands.https://thenewdaily.com.au/opinion/2023/04/01/the-stats-guy-why-young-people-should-remain-optimistic-and-focus-on-reshaping-the-future/
Very few Australian schools dedicate any time to teaching philosophy and ethics. Two students from Sydney saw the need for a program to teach these valuable life skills and named it Terra Symposium. Co-founder Daniel Mawston said"The best thing we can do for today’s generation is to future-proof their education to make sure they have the philosophical inquiry skills to deal with what’s thrown at them.”Terra Symposium took out the AIIA People’s Choice Award at the 2022 iAwards, Terra Symposium will move to full commercialisation this year. Photo from Facebookhttps://www.innovationaus.com/aussie-students-put-ethics-and-philosophy-back-into-schools/
Along with carnivores and herbivores we now have virovores - organisms that eat viruses.Since viruses are found absolutely everywhere, it’s inevitable that organisms will consume them incidentally. But researcher John DeLong at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln wanted to find out if any microbes actively ate viruses, and whether such a diet could support the physiological growth of individual organisms and the growth of a community. Experiments showed that a microbe known as Halteria favoured eating a virus. Additional studies will look for more virovores.https://newatlas.com/science/first-virovore-eats-viruses/
