no. 118: This hidden orchid doesn't photosynthesize

Yes, it's Friday the 13th, but that can't stop this week's good news from flowing.

We have a lot of great stories of progress that happened this week like a top secret flower getting rediscovered, a daring rescue mission of a baby wallaby, and a study from London's Ultra Low Emissions Zone. Not to mention several more inspiring community wins!

Enjoy, and have a truly great weekend.

Progress from Monday, September 9

A 3-D printer inspired by mason wasps is printing affordable homes in remote areas of Colombia after being acquired by the United Nations Development Program to use locally sourced materials like mud, clay, and agricultural waste to create extremely cheap structures (Joe Salas|New Atlas)

The first hydrogen powered passenger train in the US is set to run between San Bernardino and Redlands in California, which will help clean up the bad air quality over its quieter ride by emitting only water vapor (Jules Feeney|The Guardian)

A new court ruling is forcing several slaughterhouses to pay for environmental damages after they used cattle raised in protected areas of the Amazon rainforest, in the first of several dozens lawsuits seeking millions to repair the damaged forest (Fabiano Maisonnave|AP)

And today’s community win comes from N/A who’s leaving a job they hate to follow their decade-long desire to become a postman!

How did a dental surgeon rediscover the long lost ghost orchid?

The Ghost orchid is Britain’s rarest plant declared extinct in 2009, but a dental surgeon just rediscovered it last month.

Richard Bate fell in love with orchids at age 10 and spent the past 30 years searching for this unique flower in his free time that’s found only in the deepest parts of the forest. Unlike most plants, the ghost orchid has no leaves and doesn’t photosynthesize but instead gets nutrients through fungi beneath the soil.

Experts believe this flower has only been seen by 6 people in the British wilderness since the 1980s, yet Bate’s photographs have been verified as authentic by the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland.

But he’s keeping the location top secret to protect it.

So how was this dental surgeon the one to find the rare flower? He told positive.news “The best way to find these things is to be very, very lucky: if you find one, buy a lottery ticket next”.

Yet his passion proves that you don’t have to be an expert to make a contribution to conservation efforts.

📰📷: Lucy Purdy|Positive.News; Megan Shersby|BBC Wildlife; Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland; Richard Bate

Progress from Wednesday, September 11

A Wallaby joey whose mother was hit by a vehicle was rescued from the side of the road by writer Justine Hausheer, who rushed him to a wildlife center while keeping the little one warm in a pillowcase and with body heat, and he’s now safe and should be re-released into the wild within 5 months (Justine E. Hausheer|The Nature Conservancy)

Zion National Park’s bus fleet is now all electric, replacing their 20-year-old propane-powered fleet to provide a quieter ride and more capacity for the 4 million park visitors each year (National Park Service)

Profits from the UK’s largest community-owned wind farm are going towards growing a million trees from local seeds including hazel, birch, sycamore, and several more native varieties to further improve the community (Severin Carrell|The Guardian)

And today’s community win comes from Lauren_johnson17 whose rehab center just released 3 seals back into the wild.

Progress from Thursday, September 12

A team of researchers is navigating floods, wildlife, and dangerous terrain to measure and record every single tree in a section of the Amazon rainforest to get an accurate picture of how much carbon the forest stores in a 125,000 tree census (Max Bearak|NYT)

People can now exchange their used books for another title or credits thanks to a new UK-based platform called Bookloop which is helping repurpose books and support local independent sellers (Fern McErlane|Positive.News)

A new study found that students in London’s Ultra Low Emissions Zone are nearly four times more likely to walk or bike which is further cleaning up the air and improving children’s health, signifying the decision to expand the zone is benefiting the city (Esme Stallard|BBC)

And today’s community win comes from Alex._.noodle whose mom developed a traffic light system to improve efficiency for emergency vehicles that just got approved.

Progress from Friday, September 13

Nine turtle tunnels have been filled with water and installed at an Australian National Park which lets long-necked turtles safely travel underneath a fence that keeps out predators to get to watering holes, with 73 recorded uses so far (The Guardian, WWF-Australia / Think Mammoth)

Two Illinois students named Iris and Grace helped write a piece of legislation for a school project that became a real state law which was just signed, requiring public high schools to teach students about the causes and impacts of climate change (Kate Chappell|NBC)

A nonprofit called Health in Harmony started a chainsaw buyback program where illegal loggers on the island of Borneo get money for their saws, training on how else to make a living, and access to funds for healthcare which is a big reason why they log in the first place (Callum Sutherland|CNN)

And today’s community win comes from armenberenson who has a job they love and are good at for the first time in their life.

Bonus stories

🌞 Solar farms can support pollinators

🎾 Wimbledon upcycles their used tennis balls for... harvest mice?

🌱 Planting trees is a public health priority

This newsletter was written by Jacob Simon. It has all the sources for the 'real stories that replace dread & fear with hope & action' reported to 700,000+ people every weekday on Instagram, TikTok, Threads, and now YouTube. You can say hi on LinkedIn, or by emailing jacob@jacobsimonsays.com