no. 128: Happy Thanksgiving!

Hey fam,

If you're in the US, happy (day-late) Thanksgiving!

If it goes without saying, I'll say it anyways: I'm so very thankful for each and every one of you reading this.

I had an idea two years ago to fight for our planet by telling the stories of things actually going right... and it's now spread into my full-time career.

But only because of you!

Without readers, viewers, and this awesome community (AKA you), I wouldn't be able to find, report, or amplify these stories of real-life heroes that are protecting Mother Earth.

And beyond that, we've taken over 20,000 actions together too.

This is just the start, but once again, THANK YOU!

Have an amazing weekend, and as the year starts to wind down, make sure you're getting the rest and recuperation you need to take 2025 by storm.

Friday, November 22

🧫 62 million human cells have been mapped to create a biological atlas of every cell in the human body, with 3,600 contributors in 102 countries so far helping to create the Human Cell Atlas to help better understand biological processes and diagnose, monitor, and treat diseases (Nature)

⛰️ 31,000 acres of land is getting returned to the Penobscot Indigenous tribe in Maine, which will be the largest land return to a tribe in US history without any restrictions thanks to the Trust for Public Land, while their stewardship will help conserve the ecosystem and provide some justice for their prior displacement (Olivia Gieger|ICN)

🌷 Patches of native wildflowers in cities are just as beneficial to pollinators like butterflies, bees, and hoverflies according to a new study that shows urban flower planting can provide necessary habitat to help boost the diversity of insect species (Phoebe Weston|The Guardian)

✋ And today’s community win comes from Jared who is now one year sober from alcohol.

On Monday November 25 & Tuesday November 26, I teamed up with TikTok to tell my story/journey and explain my video content creation process. These pieces were both paid collaborations, so I don't want to shove them down your throats, but if you're interested, please check them out and let me know your thoughts!

As always, thanks for your support fam 🫂💚. (These are also both posted on Instagram).

Wednesday, November 27

🔊 Recordings of endangered and extinct animals are featured in a new sound installation created by Björk at the Pompidou museum in Paris, which is called "Nature Manifesto" raising biodiversity loss awareness by giving these creatures a voice and inspiring people to imagine the sounds of a future where we protect life on Earth (Chloe Veltman|NPR)

💰 Craig, the founder of Craigslist, is dedicating his fortune to charitable causes and nonprofits including $200 million to fight against cyber crimes by funding a network of volunteers to help small companies and utilities improve the security of their systems that hundreds of millions depend on (Grace L. Williams|Yahoo Finance)

💨 A record-breaking wind turbine that’s so large each individual blade stretches longer than a professional soccer field has powered up in China and should generate electricity for 160,000 households (Renew Economy)

🏥 And today’s community win comes from Lupae whose daughter’s epilepsy surgery was moved up and their insurance company will now cover it in full. 

Thanksgiving, 2024

🐋 30 stranded pilot whales were rescued by conservation workers and residents teaming up to lift them up on sheets and return them to the ocean, with the community coming together to help these beautiful animals that often get stranded in New Zealand (Emily Mae Czachor|CBS)

🍄‍🟫 A fascinating new study shows that fungi can have memories, solve problems, and communicate, shown by navigating different wooden block arrangements, which challenges our understandings of intelligence given that they have no brain (Tokohu University)

🧑‍⚖️ Maine has become the 9th US state to sue Big Oil for deceiving the public, saying they knew burning fossil fuels will cause climate harms since the 1960s yet spent have a century deploying PR campaigns to create doubts about this, which has negatively impacted the state’s residents as well as fish and wildlife tourism (Nate Raymond|Reuters)

🏡 And today’s community win comes from _thelastdino whose city in Spain opened their first sustainable neighborhood surrounded by green areas and bike lanes and many improvements to lives and the planet together.

Bonus stories

🐑 Sheep that graze beneath solar panels may produce higher quality wool,

✋ Colombia voted to outlaw childhood marriages,

🧬 The beautiful Scimitar Oryx antelope is no longer extinct in the wild,

🙌 A collection of state & local climate wins from the Nature Conservancy.

This newsletter was written by Jacob Simon. 750,000+ people are in our community replacing dread & fear with hope & action across Instagram, TikTok, Threads, and now YouTube. You can say hi on LinkedIn, or by emailing jacob@jacobsimonsays.com