10 reasons why we gotta keep trying [169]
The legacy of Dr. Jane Goodall, the best bird photo you've seen all year, AI laws that finally protect people, and much more...
Before we get started today, I have a big personal/community announcement: We’re officially Substack Bestsellers!🥳 I quite literally couldn’t have done this without you all. So very grateful to each and every one of you, and I promise, this is just the start. Let’s keep spreading positivity, uplifting little-known heroes, and following their footsteps to build a better future🤝💚.
If you’re not a paid supporter yet but want to join the fam, you can do so here ;)
Being in Barcelona this week has reminded me of some of the little pleasures of life… Sitting in a park reading while birds croak overhead, two people learning a complicated dance routine to my right, and a group of five or six completing circus tricks to my left… Taking my time eating a dinner that goes on for hours with a duo playing guitar and saxophone out in the street… Biking around the city in protected lanes that make getting from one spot to another a literal breeze... Architecture that goes beyond what most could imagine…
With an increasingly online world, don’t forget to stop and look around once in a while!
I’m incredibly fortunate to have visited Spain for the first time to learn about the Impact/100 list of ideas that are fixing the future (more on this below), and then head to a massive conservation congress to see what’s to come in the world of wildlife protection.
I hope your week was beautiful, and congrats on making it to the weekend :)
10. AI Deepfakes that cause harm are becoming illegal in Italy
Thanks to a new law that will penalize the misuse of the tech, 1-5 years in prison will be given for offenses like using AI to commit crimes or identity theft. They’ll also be requiring parental content for kids to access AI, becoming the first in the European Union to require safer and more transparent use that protects people. (Angela Giuffrida|The Guardian)
9. The High Seas treaty will officially start in January
The treaty to protect international waters has ben in negotiations for nearly two decades, follow by two years of ratifications by countries. To officially “enter into force”, they needed 60 countries to ratify, why they just sailed past to 75, meaning this is now a legally binding agreement! (UN)
8. Tree of the Year 2025 winner
A 170-year-old ash tree just won 37% of the 30,000+ votes to take the crown. It’s located in Glasgow, Scotland on a busy street and entered as a publicly-nominated wildcard to beat out other trees of all shapes and sizes in a fun contest aimed at protecting the oldest and most valuable trees that are literally living legends. (Woodland Trust)
7. Dr. Jane Goodall has passed on, but we can help her legacy live on forever
When Jane Goodall was a child, her father gave her a stuffed chimpanzee instead of a teddy bear, and despite friends worrying it would give her nightmares, it instead planted her love for them. She decided to study animal behavior at the encouragement of her mother despite the field not accepting women at the time. She got her PhD in Cambridge, and at 26 traveling to Tanzania’s Gombe National Park with her notebook, binoculars, and a fascination for the natural world.
There, one of the greatest achievements of twentieth-century science occurred when Dr. Goodall discovered that chimps have complex emotions, social structures, and make and use tools. Thanks to her close bond with these animals, we know it isn’t only humans who have personalities and feel emotions!
In order - 1. “Johanna lohr jane-goodall” by Johanna Lohr / CC BY 4.0 2. “Jane Goodall HK” by Jeekc / CC BY 2.5 3. “Dr Jane Goodall releases a Bali Starling at Sibang Jun 2014” by Carolyntk / CC BY 3.0
60 years of studying plus 32 books and 40 films later, she accomplished much more than I can possibly hope to cover, becoming a leading environmental advocate, and starting the Jane Goodall Institute to continue the research and protection of great apes and all animals, plus the global Roots and Shoots movement to inspire young people to use their voice and take action.
Some of Jane’s last words documented by Netflix were “even if this is the end of humanity as we know it… let’s fight to the very end”. If Jane never gave up hope, we owe it to her to keep fighting for a better future too, so share her story, support her work, and take a moment to thank this hero for everything she did to help life on earth. (
6. Bird Photographer of the Year 2025
After a year of planning, this magnificent photo by Liron Gertsman of a frigatebird during a solar eclipse beat out 33,000 others to win the grand prize in this awesome competition. Many other impressive snaps took place across other categories like Portrait, Urban Birds, Conservation, Young, and Creative Perspectives all helping raise money for bird conservation. (BPOTY)
5. Renewables take the global crown away from coal
New data shows that for the first time, the world’s biggest electricity source is now renewables (wind, solar, hydro, bioenergy and other renewables like geothermal), passing coal in the first half of the year. This once again shows that no matter how hard people try to ignore it, these cheaper and more reliable energy sources are the future! (Ember)
4. 100 startups were awarded for ‘fixing the future’*
*This was a paid collaboration just for social media with Norrsken Foundation. I only collaborate on ideas I truly believe in, and I’m including it here to provide more interesting content that you may like :)
Bug-filled robots that turn food waste into fertilizer, a new surface that transforms dead parts of the ocean into thriving ecosystems, the first worldwide database of cancer survivors to accelerate a cure, rice-sized microbots to diagnose and treat brain disease, a new way of making clothes that eliminates any fabric waste, a scientific process to make butter and oils without any of the bad stuff that usually goes into them...
I could go on an on about these incredible ideas coming to life, but I also went to Barcelona to be on the ground and meet some of the folks that made this year’s Impact/100 list. Plus I made a video on it together with Norrsken! Much more on the way in the coming weeks, but in the meantime…
3. Restoring the Marshall Islands
A conservation program has successfully restored a big portion of two Islands from this nation. They became overrun by invasive rats that were likely stowaways on ships (sneaky!), but thanks to the hard work of conservationists, native birds, geckos, crabs, turtles, and trees are starting to bounce back and restore the ecosystem. (Nell Lewis|CNN Travel)
2. These three cool people are helping the world
15-year-old Evan Budz was inspired on a camping trip to invent an autonomous sea turtle robot that monitors underwater habitats to measure important data like coral bleaching in a less disruptive way than traditional methods, which won him first place for engineering in the European Union Contest for Young Scientists. (Kamrin Baker|GoodGoodGood)
With less than 12 fluent speakers left of an Indigenous language called Northern Tutchone, Elders like Franklin Lee Patterson from the Na-Cho Nyӓk Dun First Nation are building a digital holographic archive of community objects and language to preserve and hopefully revitalize their culture and spirit. (Caitrin Pilkington|CBC)
10 women in northern Thailand led by Rachaprapa Kamphud have become community firefighters, restoring their local forest with native vegetation, keeping the soil moist, and running an early-alert system that keeps their village safe and protects their livelihoods. (Carolyn Cowan|Mongabay)
1. Our community wins :)
🥧 janicariberiro was inspired by our community to make apple pies for their neighbors using fruit from their trees in a new tradition.
🌱 Megon Shore created a little seed library to share native seeds and help gardens in their neighborhood.
🪴 LuniDuni started a generational garden with their science class to replace grass with native plants.
What’s your story?
The newsletter was written by Jacob Simon. Over 1 million people are in our community across Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. You can say hi on LinkedIn, or by emailing jacob@jacobsimonsays.com. Main illustration by Andrea Miralles.
Thanks for helping spread some positivity, and see you next week for more!
Thank you for the good news. In a world gone mad it’s so comforting to know that people are still fighting the good fight out there.
I really like Barcelona, but I love a little village 36 km south of Barcelona called SITGES. A beautiful view everywhere you look. Thank you so much for this amazing article.