Colorado passes bill offering 10 hours per week of free universal preschool
By the fall of 2023, all 4-year-old children in Colorado will be able to attend preschool at no cost to their families.
North & Central America
Los Angeles County mandates compostable and recyclable dining ware
This new ordinance will also ban the sale of expanded polystyrene foam, more commonly known as Styrofoam, in items like coolers, dining ware, and pool toys.
First COVID-19 breath test authorized for use in U.S.
The device takes three minutes to return results and has been found to be over 90 percent accurate in detecting positive COVID-19 cases.
U.S. forgives 40,000 student loans, provides aid to 3.6 million more
The government said it was addressing “historical failures” to communicate to borrowers all the benefits they were eligible for in federal student loan programs.
Quebec became the first jurisdiction in the world to explicitly ban oil and gas development in its territory
For two decades, citizens have mobilized against different oil and gas projects in Quebec, including shale gas in the St. Lawrence Valley and oil projects in Gaspésie.
New treatment helps alopecia patients regrow their hair
A new Yale study shows that one in three patients with a severe skin disease were able to regrow hair after being treated with a common arthritis drug.
New York enacts first-in-nation plan to electrify all state school buses
The historic legislation aims for all new school bus purchases to be zero emission by 2027, while requiring that all buses in operation are electric by 2035.
Stanford University researchers invent groundbreaking solar panels that work at night
The setup is inexpensive and, in principle, could be incorporated within existing solar cells. It is also simple, so construction in remote locations with limited resources is feasible.
New technique uses plastic waste to capture CO2 emissions
The scientists from Rice University developing the technique estimate that the cost to remove CO2 from flue gas streams would be about US$21 a ton, a significant improvement over existing alternatives.
Opium production down as one thousand families in Mexico’s Golden Triangle turn to agroforestry
The project has helped lift the Tamazula municipality, where the four communities are located, off the state’s poverty list, raise their income above the minimum wage and contain narcotrafficking.