Why North American Cities are Different Than European
We often look at urban design on Things Are Good so it’s worth thinking about how we got here. The decisions made centuries ago impact how our cities operate and…
Adam Clare
You Can Now Eat Climate Data
Ice cream is delicious and now you can eat a brand new flavour of it made of climate data. Well, it’s more like existing flavours put together to symbolize data…
We Can Use Nanotechnology to Scrub CO2
Scientists working with nanotechnology to try and create methanol from CO2 accidentally discovered that they made ethanol. Happy accidents are always welcomed – particularly when it can help the environment…
If You’re a Nice Person You Likely Have More Fun Than Others
Some people think that the way to get ahead in life is to be a pushy jerk, and those people are wrong. What you should be is nice. Yup, that’s…
Buying Recycled Products is Good for Everything
Reduce, reuse, and recycle is a mantra heard time and time again. Yet, not everyone follows it (remember that they are in that order for a reason: reduce what you…
Effective Nonviolent Resistance Against Tyranny
Using violence to fight violence isn’t the best approach, instead nonviolent resistance can be used effectively (and less ironically). In this TED talk Jamila Raqib explores what are the best…
Using Snow to Cool Buildings in Summer
During winter snow is cleared from the roads and put into massive piles to melt when warmer weather returns. This might seem simple enough, but it’s a big challenge dealing…
Conscientiousness Can Lead to Corporate Success
The corporate working world is a tough place and ti’s often assumed that the heartless will have the most success.The myth that that one needs to be like a character…
Philosophy Will Help You Be (Happy)
Happiness can be a fleeting feeling, or it can be an ongoing emotion. It all comes down to how you approach the world and react to what you experience. In…
Clean, Renewable Energy Continues Amazing Drop in Costs
The cost of installing solar energy systems of every type has seen double digit decreases in cost since 2008. This reduction is astonishing because it means that solar becomes competitive…
Using Seawater to Farm in the Desert
The future of farming in much of the world could look like something out of science fiction. Sundrop farms in Australia has a farm up and running that produces food…
China is Getting Serious about Climate Change
China rightfully gets a lot of flak for its environmental policies; they are listening and acting on received criticism. Previously we noted that China started to close coal plants and…
Complaints About Police Drop 93% Thanks to Body Cameras
Policing has become a hot issue in recent years thanks to the efforts of groups like Black Lives Matter bringing discriminatory actions by the police to light. In many jurisdictions…
Environment Destroying CEOs Held Accountable by Shareholders
ShareAction is an organization that is tired of letting CEOs and companies harm the world and are doing something about it. The organization campaigns on behalf of shareholders to represent…
A Happy Partner Means a Healthy Self
Being in a relationship can have benefits of feeling good as long as it’s a healthy one. There’s now a bonus to couples that are happy: they are making their…
Portugal Joins Other Countries by Running Only on Renewable Energy
Portugal reached a very significant milestone on its path to being fully powered by renewables by consuming energy only from sustainable resources for four days. Other countries are on similar…
Simulations Help Predict How People Panic
Sadly there are still incidents of death that are a result of people panicking while evacuating spaces. For decades engineers have looked into ways to make buildings easy to evacuate…
Cities Improve Parking by Removing Parking Spaces
Car culture greatly damaged urban centres the world over and now cities are trying to undo the damage. Smart cities are banning cars from certain areas, installing bike lanes, more…
Toronto’s Green Roofs Keep Growing
Back in 2006 we first looked at how green roofs were becoming a development issue in Toronto, in 2009 Toronto implemented that green roof bylaw. Then in 2014 we took…
Why Watching Game of Thrones is Good for Your Relationship
Binge watching TV shows is common for a lot of couples, and that’s good. There are debates around the merit of binge watching and whether or not consuming media that…