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Inspiring: Tech for Good News Articles

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How the virtual world is inspiring gamers to become botanists
2024-06-10, Positive.News
https://www.positive.news/society/virtual-world-inspiring-gamers-become-botan...

What if computer games could facilitate a tangible, meaningful connection with nature? Now they can thanks to a new botany project that empowers gamers to cultivate plants featured in their favourite video game. The idea was that of Hannah Young and Aleks Atanasovski, two gamers who wanted to fuse their love of nature with their passion for gaming. The result is Seed Saga, a botanical pilot that allows players of Guild Wars – a popular roleplaying game renowned for its spectacular flora – to apply for seed packs so they can grow plants that feature in the game. The pair pitched the idea to the developer behind Guild Wars, Arena Net, which was “really up for it”. So much so, that the firm provided renders from the game for the seed packets and gave the project a push on its social channels. Due to the limited availability of seeds ... gamers must submit an application explaining why they want them. The responses, says Young, have been heartening. Said one applicant: “[Guild Wars] saved my life during a period of deep depression. It would be an honour to grow [crimson sunflowers] in my yard to pay homage to the game and support the surrounding insects that could benefit from these flowers.” The first seed packs went out in April. The idea now is to partner with other players in the industry and scale the concept to cultivate a new generation of botanists. Doing so could boost mental health: research shows that interacting with plants counteracts stress brought on by computers.

Note: Explore more positive stories about using technology for good.


Revolutionary Civic Social Media Is On the Horizon
2023-10-10, LA Progressive
https://www.laprogressive.com/techie-tips/revolutionary-civic-social-media

Social media platforms have become an integral part of our lives, but they also pose significant challenges for our society. From spreading misinformation and hate speech to undermining democracy and privacy, social media can have negative impacts on the public good. How can we harness the power of social media for positive purposes, such as civic engagement, social justice, and education? One possible solution is to create a new kind of social media platform that is designed to serve the public interest, not the profit motive. This platform would be owned and governed by its users, who would have a say in how it operates and what content it promotes. Such a platform may sound utopian, but it is not impossible. In fact, there are already some examples of social media platforms that are trying to achieve these goals, such as Mastodon, Diaspora, and Aether. These platforms are based on the principles of decentralization, federation, and peer-to-peer communication, which allow users to have more control and autonomy over their online interactions. Civic Works ... is an emerging social networking platform that provides a more democratic, inclusive, and responsible online space for everyone. It is built on the idea that social media can be a force for good when the objective is not subverted by advertisers, marketers, or shadowy political operatives. It is a platform that inspires people to become active citizens, through civic, political, economic, and/or educational actions.

Note: The social media platform PeakD is censorship-proof and is governed by network operators who are elected by the community. Explore more positive stories like this in our comprehensive inspiring news articles archive focused on solutions and bridging divides.


Scientists Have Used Mushrooms to Make Biodegradable Computer Chip Parts
2022-11-15, CNN News
https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/15/world/mushroom-skin-electrical-circuits-scn-sc...

New research has shown that mushroom skins could provide a biodegradable alternative to some plastics used in batteries and computer chips, making them easier to recycle. Researchers from the Johannes Kepler University in Austria were working on flexible and stretchable electronics, with a focus on sustainable materials to replace non-degradable materials, when they made their discovery, published in the journal Science Advances. “There was a fair share of serendipity involved,” Martin Kaltenbrunner ... co-author of the paper, told CNN. At the time, a member of the team had been looking at using fungus-derived materials for use in other areas. This work led to the latest study, which shows how Ganoderma lucidum mushroom skin could work as a substitute for the substrate used in electrical circuits. A substrate is the base of a circuit that insulates and cools the conductive metals sitting on top of it. Typically, they are made of non-degradable plastics, which are discarded after use. The mushroom ... forms a compact protective skin made of mycelium, a root-like network, to protect its growth medium (the wood). The skin has many properties that set it apart from other biodegradable materials, Kaltenbrunner said, “but most importantly, it can simply be grown from waste wood and does not need energy or cost intensive processing.” “Our mycelium ... can last a long time if kept dry, but in just a standard household compost, it would degrade entirely within two weeks or less,” he added.

Note: Explore a treasure trove of concise summaries of incredibly inspiring news articles which will inspire you to make a difference.


'Ways of Being' Review: Whole Earth Network
2022-06-17, Wall Street Journal
https://www.wsj.com/articles/ways-of-being-book-review-whole-earth-network-11...

The artist, writer and technologist James Bridle begins "Ways of Being" with an uncanny discovery: a line of stakes tagged with unfathomable letters and numbers in thick marker pen. The region of [Greece] is rich in oil, we learn, and the company that won the contract to extract it from the foothills of the Pindus mountains is using "cognitive technologies" to "augment ... strategic decision making." The grid of wooden stakes left by "unmarked vans, helicopters and work crews in hi-vis jackets" are the "tooth- and claw-marks of Artificial Intelligence, at the exact point where it meets the earth." "Ways of Being" sets off on a tour of the natural world, arguing that intelligence is something that "arises ... from thinking and working together," and that "everything is intelligent." We hear of elephants, chimpanzees and dolphins who resist and subvert experiments testing their sense of self. We find redwoods communicating through underground networks. In the most extraordinary result of all, in 2014 the Australian biologist Monica Gagliano showed that mimosa plants can remember a sudden fall for a month. Ever since the Industrial Revolution, science and technology have been used to analyze, conquer and control. But "Ways of Being" argues that they can equally be used to explore and augment connection and empathy. The author cites researchers studying migration patterns with military radar and astronomers turning telescopes designed for surveillance on Earth into instruments for investigating the dark energy of the cosmos.

Note: Read a thought-provoking article featuring a video interview with artist and technologist James Bridle as he explores how technology can be used to reflect the innovative and life-enhancing capacities of non-human natural systems. For more along these lines, see concise summaries of deeply revealing news articles on mysterious nature of reality from reliable major media sources.


Largest Distributed Peer-To-Peer Grid On The Planet Laying Foundation For A Decentralized Internet
2020-06-20, Forbes
https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkoetsier/2020/06/20/largest-distributed-peer...

A project to decentralize the internet that youve never heard of has more capacity than all other blockchain projects put together: 5-10X more, according to its founder. The project is called ThreeFold, and its not your typical blockchain startup. Instead, its a long-term project to rewire the internet in the image of its first incarnation: decentralized, unowned, accessible, free. We have 18,000 CPU cores and 90 million gigabytes, which is a lot of capacity, founder Kristof de Spiegeleer [said]. Less than 20 companies actually own more than 80% of the internet capacity, which is the storage and the compute. It really needs to be something like electricity. It needs to be everywhere and everyone needs to have access to it. It needs to be cost effective, it needs to be reliable, it needs to be independent. That would be a fundamentally different kind of internet: one we all collectively own rather than just one we all just use. It requires a lot of different technology for backups and storage, for which ThreeFold is building a variety of related technologies: peer-to-peer technology to create the grid in the first place; storage, compute, and network technologies to enable distributed applications; and a self-healing layer bridging people and applications. Oh, and yes. There is a blockchain component: smart contracts for utilizing the grid and keeping a record of activities. So ... you have people providing actual tangible services for others in exchange for some degree of cryptocurrency reward.

Note: Explore a treasure trove of concise summaries of incredibly inspiring news articles which will inspire you to make a difference.


Blockchain Could Help Us Reclaim Control of Our Personal Data
2017-10-05, Harvard Business Review
https://hbr.org/2017/10/smart-ledgers-can-help-us-reclaim-control-of-our-pers...

Companies such as Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion are able to store huge quantities of our personal data and profit from it in a way that doesn’t always benefit us. And when those same companies lose our personal data and make us susceptible to identity theft, there’s virtually nothing we can do about it. Several organizations are working on returning the value of your data to you, such as the state of Illinois’ pilot to test a blockchain-based birth registry/ID system. Taking this idea one step further, when you are the sole owner of your personal data on purchases, online browsing history, or mobile data, you can also choose whether or not to “sell” your own data, with rights and restrictions using smart ledgers. This could shift the power of (and profit from) data management from big, established firms back to individual users. This would also shift the responsibility. If you lost your cryptographic “keys,” then they would be truly lost and you would have to build your identity again. Equifax and others have shown the weakness of central databases in the hands of a single firm. Mutual distributed ledger systems have the potential to provide us with identity and activity management, even permitting us to make a market selling information about ourselves, taking control and cash back from companies like Equifax. There will certainly be mistakes along the way, but how can we truly object to reclaiming control of our most private property — our personal data?

Note: This article is also available here. Watch our 13 minute video on the promise of blockchain technology. Explore more positive stories like this on reimagining the economy and technology for good.


'It was a pie-in-the-sky ridiculous idea': The US homes made from waste materials
2024-10-07, BBC News
https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20241002-the-us-homes-made-from-waste-mate...

Venture into New Mexico's beautifully stark high desert and you may well stumble across some fantastical and unconventional homes – some palatial and sculpturally rounded; others with an ancient temple-like form – that look like they're from a Star Wars movie. Set in and around the town of Taos where they were invented almost 40 years ago, these are Earthships: net-zero, sustainably designed homes built mostly from both natural and waste materials, such as old tyres, empty wine bottles and wood and mud. Earthship construction requires less in the way of toxic or carbon-emitting construction materials like concrete and plastics, and doesn't require precious woodland and other natural resources. An earth berm (a purposefully built bank of soil) surrounds the Earthship on three sides, providing insulating mass that controls temperature. Each has a greenhouse ... either on the north or south side depending on location. Most Earthships are purely solar powered; some also have wind turbines to supplement or a wood-burning stove as back up. Taos has cold snowy winters and often dry, hot summers, but in an Earthship, the internal temperature remains close to 72F (21C) year-round, regardless of outside weather conditions. What does it feel like to stay inside an Earthship? "It feels like you're inside the womb," says Earthship construction manager Deborah Binder. "You feel constantly hugged and snuggled. The temperature is always comfortable."

Note: Don't miss the great Earthship pictures at the link above. Explore more positive stories like this on technology for good.


The Native Seed Farm Safeguarding California’s Future
2026-03-16, Reasons to be Cheerful
https://reasonstobecheerful.world/heritage-growers-california-future/

Heritage Growers, a native seed farm in Colusa founded by the nonprofit River Partners in 2021, is tackling one of the most fundamental — and least visible — environmental recovery challenges facing the American West: the shortage of locally adapted native seeds needed to restore damaged ecosystems at scale. With more than 200 acres in production, the farm grows what restoration scientists call “source-identified” seed — plant material whose genetic origin can be traced to the specific region where it will ultimately be replanted. That distinction is crucial. “It’s not just any seed,” says Heritage Growers’ general manager Pat Reynolds, a restoration ecologist with more than 30 years of experience. “You want to take material that comes from a specific region, track and make sure those genetics are held forward, produce that seed and put it back into the region. That’s a real important part of it. A poppy that’s grown out in China and came from who knows what is not appropriate for habitat restoration.” Some species require hand harvesting. Others, including some varieties of milkweed critical to pollinators like monarch butterflies, can cost more than $1,000 per pound to produce. “Milkweed actually is very expensive to amplify,” Reynolds explains. “But we need it because if there is no milkweed, there are no monarch butterflies.” Heritage Growers was created five years ago to address this systemic shortage.

Note: Explore more positive stories like this on healing the Earth and technology for good.


An Unlikely Source of Crypto Innovation: Afghanistan
2026-01-24, New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/24/world/asia/crypto-innovation-afghanistan.html

At a bustling money changer in northwestern Syria, a 46-year-old farmer gripped a plastic card like a lifeline. She had never heard of cryptocurrency, but the card held $500 of it to help restart her farm after nearly 14 years of civil war. Where had such technology come from, she asked. The answer surprised her: Afghanistan. Blockchain-based cash transfers are not the kind of innovation that many people would expect from a country better known for its repressive Taliban leadership, which views the internet with suspicion. But in a nation that has largely turned its back on the world, an Afghan start-up is building tools that it hopes will transform how humanitarian aid is delivered in countries shattered by conflict. “We’ve lived through these challenges ourselves, so we know how to develop an approach that works,” said Zakia Hussaini, 26, a programmer at the start-up, HesabPay, which designed the technology driving Ms. Almahmoud’s card. An early proponent of the platform was the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The agency uses it to support more than 86,000 families in Afghanistan in one of the biggest public blockchain aid initiatives in the world. Mercy Corps, which donated the funds to Ms. Almahmoud, worked with HesabPay to expand its reach to include Syria, and programs for Sudan and Haiti are in development. Today, the platform has more than 650,000 wallets in Afghanistan, of which about 50,000 are in regular use.

Note: Watch our 13 minute video on the promise of blockchain technology. Explore more positive stories like this on reimagining the economy and technology for good.


Marshall Islands launches world’s first universal basic income scheme offering cryptocurrency
2025-12-16, The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/dec/17/marshall-islands-launches-unive...

The Marshall Islands has introduced a national universal basic income (UBI) scheme that offers payments via cryptocurrency, alongside more traditional methods, which experts say is the first scheme of its kind in the world. Every resident citizen of the Marshall Islands will receive quarterly payments of about US$200 as part of a government effort to ease cost of living pressures. The first instalments were paid in late November and recipients can choose whether the money is paid into a bank account, by cheque, or delivered as cryptocurrency on the blockchain through a government-backed digital wallet. “We the government want to make sure no one is left behind,” Marshall Islands’ minister for finance David Paul [said]. “$200 per person per quarter, which is about $800 a year, does not compel you to quit your job ... but it’s actually like a morale booster for people.” The UBI scheme is financed by a trust fund created under an agreement with the United States, which in part aims to compensate the Marshall Islands for decades of American nuclear testing. The cryptocurrency delivery option – which involves the transfer of a digital token known as a stablecoin, pegged to the US dollar – was designed to address the practical challenge of delivering the money across hundreds of remote islands. Anelie Sarana, the finance manager involved in the rollout, said ... many recipients were using the money immediately for basic needs, like food and essentials.

Note: Watch our 13 minute video on the promise of blockchain technology. Explore more positive stories like this on technology for good and reimagining the economy.


‘Soil is more important than oil’: inside the perennial grain revolution
2025-12-12, The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/dec/12/soil-is-more-important-th...

“These plants are the winners, the ones that get to pass their genes on [to future generations],” says Lee DeHaan of the Land Institute, an agricultural non-profit based in Salina, Kansas. If DeHaan’s breeding programme maintains its current progress, the descendant of these young perennial crop plants could one day usher in a wholesale revolution in agriculture. The plants are intermediate wheatgrass. Since 2010, DeHaan has been transforming this small-seeded, wild species into a high-yielding, domesticated grain crop called Kernza. He believes it will eventually be a viable – and far more sustainable – alternative to annual wheat, the world’s most widely grown crop and the source of one in five of all calories consumed by humanity. Remarkably, DeHaan does not paint the current agricultural-industrial complex as the enemy. “Every disruptive technology is always opposed by those being disrupted,” he says. “But if the companies [that make up] the current system can adjust to the disruption, they can play in that new world just the same.” The Land Institute’s strategy is redirection rather than replacement. “Our trajectory is to eventually get the resources that are currently dedicated to annual grain crops directed to developing varieties of perennials,” says DeHaan. “That’s our [route to] success.” There are signs that this is already working, with the food firm General Mills now incorporating Kernza into its breakfast cereals.

Note: Explore more positive stories like this in on healing the Earth and technology for good.


Strengthening The Connective Tissue Of Democracy
2025-02-28, Noema
https://www.noemamag.com/strengthening-the-connective-tissue-of-democracy/

California has introduced a first-in-the-nation online public platform to help bridge silos. The platform, called Engaged California (EC), enables and encourages the direct engagement of citizens with government and with each other. Engaged California is not glorified polling and is more than a town hall gathering. It is a three-way tool that enables policymakers and administrators to listen at scale to average citizens outside of election cycles and be responsive; it invites citizens to directly voice their concerns and proposals on an ongoing basis; and it is a platform for Californians from all walks of life to interact with each other to find common ground. Audrey Tang ... helped craft California’s program ... modeled on the pioneering online deliberative platform she created as Taiwan’s first digital minister. Tang’s vTaiwan platform engages thousands of citizens at a time to weigh in on social issues or policy propositions. In essence, as each participant formulates a position on an issue, others chime in with their own versions. Extreme positions fall to the margins with minimal support, and more consensus views aggregate in the middle. In turn, legislators, parties and administrators can formulate policies in full knowledge of where the public stands. Housed in the state’s Office of Data and Innovation, Engaged California is meant to become a permanent feature of governance going forward that will be used for the public to deliberate a range of concerns and proposals

Note: Read more about how vTaiwan is changing the game. Explore more positive stories like this on healing social division and technology for good.


This alien plant is lethal for the environment. Now it’s being turned into a plastic to regrow forests
2025-01-07, CNN News
https://www.cnn.com/world/africa/hyacinth-alien-plant-environment-plastic-spc...

Water hyacinths are native to South America, but were introduced as an exotic ornamental to many other countries. They’ve since taken over freshwater environments and are labeled an alien invasive species on every other continent aside from Antarctica. As well as their impact on biodiversity and livelihoods, the floating plant can clog hydroelectric and irrigation systems, meaning that one does not need to live in their proximity to be affected. It’s the highest-profile example of an invasive aquatic plant crisis that has cost the global economy tens of billions of dollars historically, and now more than $700 million annually. Now a Kenyan company is addressing the problem as well as the country’s plastic pollution issue by turning the invasive plant into a bioplastic. HyaPak Ecotech Limited, founded by Joseph Nguthiru, began life as a final year project by the former Egerton University civil and environmental engineering student. Nguthiru’s bioplastic is made from dried water hyacinth combined with binders and additives, which is then mixed and shaped. The product, which biodegrades over a few months, was first used as an alternative for plastic packaging. HyaPak has gained widespread attention, winning the Youth category at the East Africa Climate Action Awards, a prize at UNESCO’s World Engineering Day Hackathon, and a Prototype for Humanity Award 2023 announced at the COP28 climate conference.

Note: Explore more positive stories like this on healing the Earth and technology for good.


My invention brought clean water to millions. Don't rewrite the law that made it possible
2024-12-24, Salon
https://www.salon.com/2024/12/24/my-invention-brought-clean-water-to-millions...

For 4.4 billion people, the only water available is unsafe to drink. In the early 1990s, I was working as a physicist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory ("Berkeley Lab") when I heard about a devastating cholera outbreak in my home country. I started to study waterborne pathogens with the aim to develop a new way to make water drinkable that would be affordable and effective in rural areas of low income countries. In a short few years, and later on with funding support from the Energy Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development, I came up with an invention — the UV Waterworks — that met all my goals. It was inexpensive, efficient, portable and effective. Roughly the size of a microwave, the device sanitizes water using UV light to kill harmful bacteria, viruses and molds. It can purify approximately four gallons of water per minute and provide a year's worth of potable drinking water for just seven cents per person. The University of California, which runs the lab, filed the initial patent. I helped found WaterHealth International, which exclusively licensed the UV Waterworks technology from the university in 1996. In the time since, the invention has benefited tens of million people across India and Africa. Roughly 80% of our customers live below the poverty line in their home countries.

Note: Read about the ecologist who used sunlight, plants, and pond life to turn toxic sewage into clean drinking water—proving that nature can heal what industry has broken. Explore more positive stories like this on technology for good.


Beyond the scandals: How crypto is quietly revolutionizing philanthropy
2024-11-07, Salon
https://www.salon.com/2024/11/07/beyond-the-scandals-how-crypto-is-quietly-re...

In January 2024, The GivingBlock, one of the largest crypto donation platforms, reported that crypto donations had reached more than $2 billion, projected to exceed $10 billion by 2032. Crypto donors, who are largely millennials, contribute on average 128 times more per donation than cash donors. By leveraging tax incentives like capital gain offsets to eliminate taxes on donations, crypto giving is as financially smart as it is impactful. But the benefits of crypto giving go far beyond the financial incentives. Social impact is embedded in the foundation of Web 3. This new economy is fueled by cutting out traditional middlemen, banks, and allowing transparent, secure, and borderless peer-to-peer payments. No ID or passport is needed. This allows people, especially the unbanked, to have full control of their assets with minimal fees. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has championed using memecoin momentum for good, saying, “I want to see quality fun projects that positively impact the ecosystem and the world.” He donated nearly $2 million in memecoin winnings to charities, including $532,000 to the Effective Altruism Fund's Animal Welfare Fund and over $1 million to the United Humanitarian Front, an organization providing grants to humanitarian relief initiatives in Ukraine. New Story, a nonprofit building homes to alleviate homelessness worldwide, partnered with artist Brian Ku to release a limited edition series of NFTs where each sale provided a 3D house for a family in Latin America.

Note: Watch our latest video on the potential for blockchain to fix government waste and restore financial freedom. Explore more positive stories like this on technology for good.


Lucid Dreaming Breakthrough: Startup Claims First-Ever Two-Way Dream Communication
2024-10-08, The Debrief
https://thedebrief.org/lucid-dreaming-breakthrough-startup-claims-first-ever-...

REMspace, a California-based neurotech startup, claims to have achieved the first two-way communication between individuals during lucid dreaming. Using specially designed equipment, participants reportedly exchanged a message while asleep—an extraordinary claim that has yet to be peer-reviewed. This milestone, if validated, could mark a turning point in dream research, with REMspace suggesting applications from mental health therapies to skill training. Lucid dreaming ... is the state of being aware that you are dreaming while asleep. While around 50 percent of people report experiencing at least one lucid dream, the idea of communication within such a state is still in its early stages of research. The REMspace team claims they achieved communication between two participants during a lucid dream on September 24, 2024. Participants received random words generated by a server through earbuds while they were dreaming. One participant reportedly repeated the word in their dream, and the second confirmed it after waking. Looking ahead, they claim to be working on enabling more complex forms of dream communication, including full conversations and interactions with external servers. [REMspace founder Michael] Raduga predicts that within a few years, “dream communication will become common.” Until then, the scientific community awaits peer-reviewed evidence to substantiate these intriguing, but currently unverified claims.

Note: Explore more positive stories like this on the mysterious nature of reality and technology for good.


Robot controlled by a king oyster mushroom blends living organisms and machines
2024-09-04, CNN News
https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/04/science/fungus-robot-mushroom-biohybrid/index....

A wheeled bot rolls across the floor. A soft-bodied robotic star bends its five legs, moving with an awkward shuffle. Powered by conventional electricity via plug or battery, these simple robotic creations would be unremarkable, but what sets these two robots apart is that they are controlled by a living entity: a king oyster mushroom. By growing the mushroom’s mycelium, or rootlike threads, into the robot’s hardware, a team led by Cornell University researchers has engineered two types of robots that sense and respond to the environment by harnessing electrical signals made by the fungus and its sensitivity to light. The robots are the latest accomplishment of scientists in a field known as biohybrid robotics who seek to combine biological, living materials such as plant and animal cells or insects with synthetic components to make partly living and partly engineered entities. [Lead author Anand] Mishra engineered an electrical interface that accurately reads the mycelia’s raw electrical activity, then processes and converts it into digital information that can activate the robot’s actuators or moving parts. The robots were able to walk and roll as a response to the electrical spikes generated by the mycelia. [Professor of unconventional computing at the University of the West of England Andrew Adamatzky's] lab has produced more than 30 sensing and computing devices using live fungi, including growing a self-healing skin for robots that can react to light and touch. “When an adequate drivetrain (transmission system) is provided, the robot can, for example, monitor the health of ecological systems. The fungal controller would react to changes, such as air pollution, and guide the robot accordingly,” Adamatzky said.

Note: Explore more positive stories like this about technology for good.


Telegram And Youtube Censorship Show Bitcoin And Nostr Are Critical
2024-08-26, Forbes
https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2024/08/26/telegram-and-youtube-c...

The arrest of Telegram’s founder and the takedown of Simply Bitcoin’s Youtube channel for violating Youtube’s “harmful and dangerous” policy ... speaks to the power of corporations to mediate the reach of speech. French authorities have claimed that Durov was arrested, for among other things, providing “cryptology” tools. States couch their control of virtual space as an extension of their physical authority. Platforms and individuals are held to account for “crimes” being perpetuated on virtual space. One common thread is ... the idea of “misinformation.” Another is to use the most heinous crimes in a witch hunt - child abuse sexual material for example. Another favorite is “terrorism.” Networks like Bitcoin and Nostr are more needed than ever. They both give people geographic arbitrage, the ability to operate without corporate leadership, and a hedge against state repression. The network cannot be shut down or threatened to change its rules as quickly and as easily as arresting one CEO. Is the idea of “decentralization” possible in a world where states can arrest CEOs and founders? Nothing can prevent somebody from exchanging funds with one another using Bitcoin or expressing something on Nostr. Usage of these networks in a peer-to-peer manner with an array of self-custody wallets and clients shows a popular demand for privacy, encryption, and transmitting value without the prying eyes of the state.

Note: Watch our latest video on the potential for blockchain to fix government waste and restore financial freedom. Explore more positive stories like this on technology for good.


Bitcoin offers freedom from political repression—and that’s a key to its future
2021-02-18, Fortune
https://fortune.com/2021/02/18/bitcoin-censorship-political-repression-deplat...

Bitcoin usage in emerging markets is increasing rapidly. And while it’s true that Bitcoin can be a better alternative for unbanked peoples who don’t have the means, access, or even the basic proof of identity to open a bank account, it turns out its biggest benefit today for many people is that Bitcoin is censorship-resistant. In other words, government cannot throttle, control or monitor your behavior as they can in the legacy financial world. In 2020, protests against the government erupted in Lagos and across Nigeria because of the brutal and illegal actions of a unit in the police force. Within days, groups supporting the protesters had their bank accounts frozen. With no other option, they turned to Bitcoin, raising funds that sustained the movement. Peer-to-peer Bitcoin transactions can be zero-fee, a big break from the much higher fees many in Africa are forced to pay for basic financial services, such as those for remittances, which are on average closer to 9%. Alex Gladstein, chief strategy officer for the Human Rights Foundation, has identified a number of other countries, including China, Russia, Belarus, and Myanmar, where the government uses the monetary and banking systems to silence dissidents. Recent deplatforming by big social media companies of certain groups and individuals ... has raised concerns about similar risks in financial services, where banks can limit access to bank accounts, credit cards, and so forth.

Note: Watch our latest video on the potential for blockchain to fix government waste and restore financial freedom. Explore more positive stories like this on technology for good.


Were drowning in trash. These Dutch scientists have a solution.
2018-08-02, Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/theworldpost/wp/2018/08/02/biomass/?nored...

The sprawling, gated campus of the Energy Research Center of the Netherlands (ECN) sits on a spit of land about an hour north of Amsterdam. In a nearby control room, engineers ... were working on one of clean energys intransigent problems: how to turn waste into electricity without producing more waste. Decades ago, scientists discovered that when heated to extreme temperatures, wood and agricultural leftovers, as well as plastic and textile waste, turn into a gas composed of underlying chemical components. The resulting synthetic gas, or syngas, can be harnessed as a power source, generating heat or electricity. But gasified waste has serious shortcomings: it contains tars, which clog engines and disrupt catalysts, breaking machinery, and in turn, lowering efficiency and raising costs. This is what the Dutch technology is designed to fix. The MILENA-OLGA system, as they call it, is a revolutionary carbon-neutral energy plant that turns waste into electricity with little or no harmful byproducts. The MILENA-OLGA process ... is 11 percent more efficient than most existing energy-from-waste plants and over 50 percent more efficient than incinerators of a comparable scale. The process also emits zero wastewater and produces no particulates or other pollutants. Just 4 percent of the original material is left over as inert white ash, which can be used to make cement.

Note: A similar technology was developed and implemented over 10 years ago, as detailed in this Popular Science article. Why wasn't this amazing invention widely reported and used? Explore a treasure trove of concise summaries of incredibly inspiring news articles which will inspire you to make a difference.


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