Yelp will now tell you if a business is following COVID-19 protocols
The platform’s new pandemic specifics allow customers to report if staff and other customers are following social distancing and mask protocols.
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Somerville, Massachusetts decriminalizes naturally occurring psychedelics
The Somerville City Council voted 9-0 to decriminalize the possession of entheogenic plants, including psilocybin mushrooms and ibogaine.
Ivory Coast designates first-ever marine sanctuary
The 1,000 square mile area is the first of five that the Ivory Coast government has designated for protection.
New initiative is paying farmers to combat Amazon deforestation
Landowners in the program receive between $37-$74 per year for each hectare of native vegetation that they preserve.
Africa’s Great Green Wall effort gets $14 billion cash injection
The Great Green Wall project seeks to restore a massive strip of desert stretching 5,000 miles from the Atlantic to the Red Sea by planting trees and grasslands.
The United States’ first out trans state senator is sworn in to office
Sarah McBride is now the highest-ranking transgender elected official in U.S. history.
Experimental Alzheimer’s drug delivers promising Phase 2 trial results
According to the new data from pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly, the antibody donanemab slowed cognitive decline by 32% compared to a placebo.
50 countries pledge to conserve 30% of land and water
The High Ambition Coalition (HAC) for Nature and People is a coalition of more than 50 countries that was formed in 2011 to encourage internal action on the climate crisis prior to the Paris Agreement.
AI-powered recycling robots now deployed in three continents and 20 states
AMP Robotics’s AI-powered recycling robot that can sort through recyclables twice as fast as its human counterparts has gone global.
U.S. government lifts ban on federal student aid for incarcerated individuals
The lifted ban is part of the $1.4 trillion government pandemic stimulus package for 2021 and reflects a long push for prison reform which encourages rehabilitation and lowered incarceration rates.