Endangered Bird Makes a Comeback

Good Morning, and welcome to another edition of Good News! Whether you are a bird lover, a bull lover, or a medical student at Johns Hopkins, you will be delighted to read about awesome stuff that has been happening in the world recently.

Climate change is one of the defining issues of our time. As the world scrambles to reduce the effects of global warming, the biggest solar farm in America just went online, and it’s called - Gemini. Developed by the company Primergy, it is being hailed as one of the most sophisticated clean energy projects yet. Over 1.8 million bi-facial solar panels now adorn the Mojave Desert, providing 690 MW of green power. A co-located 380 MW battery storage additionally aids the system. But what does that even mean?

Well, bi-facial solar panels produce electricity from both sides of the panels, and they are at least 30% more efficient than standard ones. A co-located battery storage system means the solar power plant works more efficiently. During hours of less demand for electricity, the excess power is stored in the batteries and can be used at night when the solar plant is “dormant.” But Primergy decided to go a step further and implement what they refer to as a “thoughtful design.” Careful planning allowed them to keep the local vegetation and reduce the project's land footprint by 20%. 

The project also created around 1,300 new workplaces, giving Nevada’s economy a 463 million dollar revenue boost. Gemini will be able to secure 10% of Nevada’s power during peak energy demand, with Nevada Energy signing a deal assuring they will purchase Gemini’s energy for the next 25 years.

If you ever venture into Florida and hear a grasshopper, you might have been fooled. It could actually have been a sparrow—the Florida grasshopper sparrow, to be exact. This little bird has a distinct birdsong that resembles the sound grasshoppers make. For some reason, it chose the southeasternmost American state as its home, and you won’t find it anywhere else. Sadly, its population has slowly dwindled over the past century due to habitat loss. Decade by decade, the situation worsened, and the entire species soon held on for bare existence. With only around 100 birds left in the wild in 2019, there wasn’t much chance for anyone to hear their distinctive, buzz-like birdsong.

That’s when conservationists decided to take action! They focused on restoring the populations across three areas: Three Lakes Wildlife Management Area, Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park, and the Avon Park Air Force Range.

The conservationists started a captive breeding program, and in just a decade, around 1,000 birds were released into the wild. The new birds were set free at around 40 days of age, and they quickly started breeding with the local population and among themselves. 

The numbers gradually increased over the years, and in some areas, the number of nests quadrupled. This little bird turned out to be a true fighter. With the help of a few friends, it came back to life like a phoenix. We can only hope that all conservation efforts achieve such success.

Medicine is arguably one of the most challenging studies in the world. It is physically, mentally, and emotionally draining. On top of it all, the average student has to deal with enormous student debts of tens of thousands of dollars by the time they graduate. That is why Bloomberg Philanthropies donated $1 billion to the prestigious Johns Hopkins University. They realized that reducing students' financial burden was the best way to help them thrive. Imagine waking up one day and realizing that somebody cleared most of your debts overnight. The first question that crossed their minds was probably: who is eligible to receive the funds?

There are two groups of potential recipients. The first group consists of students whose families' annual income is less than $300,000. Around 95% of American students belong to this group, and the donation will cover all of their school fees. The second group comprises students whose families earn less than $175,000 a year. They will have the additional option of getting help with housing and living expenses.

And the good news keeps on coming! It looks like donating to relieve students' debts is becoming a growing trend, with Stanford University and McPherson College among an increasing number of institutions that received similar donations. Hopefully, the initiative will continue to grow and help students focus on what’s most important - studying and becoming the best doctors and medical staff possible!

Bulls and animal lovers in Columbia recently had much reason to celebrate when their president, Gustavo Petro, signed a bill banning bullfighting in that South American country. Bullfighting has a long history in South America, dating back to the 1500s when the conquistadors first came from Spain. The tradition of bullfighting continued to develop through the centuries. It’s no wonder it took over two decades of activism and lobbying to get it banned.

Animal activists knew that to succeed, they had to touch the hearts of the general population. For years, they tirelessly spread awareness for animal rights and advocated against animal cruelty. As a result of these efforts, the interest in bullfighting slowly started to decrease. Their final victory came on July 22nd. In a bullfighting arena in Bogota, an activist dressed in a bull costume handed the bill to the president in front of thousands of spectators. As he signed the document, he stated that killing sentient beings cannot be considered culture.

According to the bill, bullfighting will gradually be phased out across Columbia over the next three years. The bullrings will be converted into cultural and sports centers. However, there is more work ahead! Six more countries, including Spain, France, Portugal, Mexico, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Peru, still allow bullfighting. We can only hope that they follow suit and ban this cruel practice as soon as possible.

Wildfires are among the scariest things that can happen, whether caused by man or nature. The destruction they cause can be devastating. And, to make things worse, up until now, it has been virtually impossible to predict when they will occur or where they might spread next. There are just too many factors that can influence the behavior of wildfires. Temperature, humidity, and local vegetation are just some of the critical factors we need to include in the projection. How strong is the wind? What direction is it blowing from? By the time a person considers all these factors, the fire would have already spread.

That’s why experts from USC decided to train an AI algorithm to do the necessary calculations. The model they used is called a conditional Wasserstein Generative Adversarial Network, or cWGAN. First, the experts taught it to use satellite images and compare them to wildfire movements in real life. Then, they used real-life historical data from past wildfires to teach the AI how wildfires behave depending on topography, weather conditions, local vegetation, and other factors.

They tested it out on fires that occurred in California between 2020 and 2022, and the algorithm successfully predicted the spread of wildfires. Once fully developed, this could be a tremendous tool for fighting wildfires, helping experts know what areas to focus on and what tactics to utilize to stop the fires in time. This new tech will help firefighters save more lives and prevent the destruction of property and wildlife habitats.

Being a Taurus myself, I felt a sigh of relief when I heard about the ban on bullfighting. Hopefully, reading this newsletter made your day and helped you recharge your inner battery! Stay tuned for the next edition because this is where the Good News keeps coming!

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