The end of May 2025
Hey fam,
Friday once again! Each week, the days are getting a little longer and a little warmer. Who else can't wait for summer?
I'm off to California next week for the Hollywood Climate Summit, and to hopefully get some relaxing days on the beach. Don't forget to take care of yourselves too. Work hard, play hard, rest hard?
This week, we're covering window dots to prevent bird collisions, free dry cleaning for unemployed people, dressing up like a mama bear to save a baby cub, penguin poop forming clouds that warm Antarctica, and much more...
By the way, I (Jacob) do every part of telling these stories of progress by myself (researching, fact-checking, writing, recording, editing, posting, and interacting).
I never paywall or gatekeep any stories, but I genuinely couldn't keep this going without your support.
If you're getting value out of this newsletter, the videos I create, and the community we're building: please become a supporter or leave a tip!
Let's keep building a better world, together.
Thanks fam,
Jacob
Friday, May 23
💸 Medical debt for 135,000 residents of LA was wiped with no strings attached, thanks to a relief program launched with nonprofit Undue Medical Debt that’s alleviating $183.5 million of bills by purchasing the debt for pennies on the dollar and covering it (Cato Hernandez|LAist)
🐦 By applying opaque dots to the glass windows on a big lakefront building in Chicago called McCormick Place which was notorious for bird collisions, they decreased casualties by nearly 95% as the glass became more visible to the birds migrating overhead (Catrin Einhorn|NYT)
🛰️ Somehow, a set of backup thrusters inoperable since 2004 were revived on Voyager 1 while deeper in space than any other human made object, thanks to creative engineering ensuring its antenna with face earth as it continues to fly through interstellar space at 35,000 miles per hour (Calla Cofield|Phys)
🪴 Gilbette (from our community) donated hundreds of healthy veggie plants to schools and senior housing.
DO SOME GOOD: Learn more about Undue Medical Debt ❤️🩹
Monday, May 26
Happy Memorial Day! In a rare moment, I took today off. Hope you had a great long weekend :)
Tuesday, May 27
🤖 Hours and hours of audio recordings, millions of images, and terabytes of data are being analyzed by AI to identify different species and patterns much faster than humans can, helping conservationists spend less time sitting and scrolling, and more time working on solutions (Jim Robbins|Yale e360)
🏫 An elementary school in LA is tearing up pavement and planting trees, flowers, and veggies in its place with a nonprofit called Amigos de los Rios which lost its office in the Eaton fire yet helped 30 low-income schools increase greenery to help with mental wellbeing and shade from extreme heat (Victoria Namkung|The Guardian)
👔 Unemployed people heading to a job interview in the Bay Area can get free dry cleaning with no questions asked from Ali Shirkhodaei who wanted to help pay it forward and uplift his community that’s supported him since he opened Lux Cleaners & Alterations in 2010 (Annalise Freimarck|San Jose Spotlight)
🛠️ And jakob_simmet (from our community) collected furniture trashed from college move outs and is fixing it up with their friends and donating hundreds of pieces to new homes.
DO SOME GOOD: Check out Amigos de los Rios 🤝
Wednesday, May 28
🧸 People are dressing up in full bear costumes to save an abandoned 2-month-old cub, mimicking mother bear behaviors to make sure he doesn’t bond with humans and can one day be returned to the wild...
Found alone and in a weak condition by campers in Los Padres National Forest, experts at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife tried to reunite the baby black bear with his mother, but she never came back… So the San Diego Humane Society stepped in to give him a second chance.
By feeding and nursing him back to health, the cub is now healthy and playful, showing good signs as he continues to prepare for the wild over the next year until he’s strong enough to make it on his own.
While the Project Wildlife team of staff and volunteers go above and beyond to rehabilitate this little guy and give him the chance he deserves to return to his rightful home.
Who else is thankful for the lengths that conservationists go to protect life on earth?
DO SOME GOOD: Help the SD Humane Society continue their work 🐻
Thursday, May 29
🐧 Penguin poop forms clouds that help cool Antarctica, per new scientific findings that ammonia from 60,000 penguin droppings called guano reacts with other gasses to create clouds that reflect sun back into space, showing how protecting wildlife has unexpected yet important benefits (Matt Simon|Grist)
🧗 Tree climbing teams are overcoming fear to learn how to safely scale up massive trees in Uganda hundreds of feet high to collect seeds from the tops of native greenery that are harder to access but higher quality when used for reforestation or safeguarding the genetic diversity of rare species (Ruth Kamnitzer|Mongabay)
🧑🔬 A livestream for 100 straight hours is underway by scientists to “save America’s forecasts”, as these specialists share why their work is important to protect, how it benefits us, and ways we can help by tuning in and sharing what we learn (WCLivestream)
👖 Cynthia (from our community) left their architecture career to start their own dream fashion label made of repurposed denim to reduce waste and support circularity.
DO SOME GOOD: Watch the science livestream! 📹
Bonus!
👁️ Superpowers now exist, because these contacts that let us see infrared colors.
🪸 This underwater sculpture park will help coral reefs.
🔋 Can batteries trap CO2?
Spread this breath of fresh air🪴
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This newsletter was written by Jacob Simon. 900,000+ people are in our community across Instagram, TikTok, Threads, YouTube, and Bluesky. You can say hi on LinkedIn, or by emailing jacob@jacobsimonsays.com.