Random Acts of Kindness
June 30th, 2020
The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.
– Alice Walker
Save the Amazon
Cutting down a tree is easy, but planting a tree again? That’s much harder. Unfortunately, the Amazon rainforest is getting destroyed at an alarming rate, but we are seeing sprouts of hope. The scientists at the Experimental Active Forest Centre (CEFA) in Brazil are aiming to plant new trees, of course, but they are also targeting the root of the problem: changing the culture and mindset of many farmers. Since the pandemic, sustainable agriculture has been growing in urgency in Brazil.
How? The CEFA is educating and helping the locals replant trees while also contributing to the livelihoods of many communities. Traditionally, many forests are burned down for traditional farming or for cattle. Now, the CEFA will donate 40,000 seedlings from its nursery. These seedlings include pau-brasil, a plant which needs to be grown to be sold as wood; urucum, whose seeds are used for paint and lipstick, and pau-rosa, whose leaves are used in perfume. While this isn’t a complete change, it’s an amazing start to helping regrow the Amazon while also changing the mindsets about farming.
The Future is Now
What is the future of work? How will large organizations train workers in the midst of a pandemic? How can we integrate remote work into our lives in a more balanced manner? These are all questions we as a society have after COVID-19. A competition from MIT, with a $6 million prize, seeks to answer these questions.
The Future of Work Grand Challenge: The details of the competition involve developing an effective strategy to train 500 individuals in 60 days or less at no entry cost, and place as many of these individuals into qualified roles while also ensuring job retention for at least 90 days. Some similar organizations like this exist, such as Resilient Coders, which pays students to learn to code and then helps them find permanent jobs. This challenge will involve all industries though, not just the tech space.
More Details: Want to register to solve a problem and win $6 million in the process? Teams must register by November 20, 2020, and winners will be announced in January 2023.
Random Acts of Kindness
Meet Akash Shrivastava from Random Acts of Kindness! Random Acts of Kindness is an app created by Mr. Shrivastava to inspire others to engage in random acts of kindness. The Random Acts of Kindness App is a community where the user gets an altruist act to complete every 24 hours. There is also an in-app community where users can see acts of kindness completed by others.
Read on for our Q&A, and please follow Random Acts of Kindness on Instagram here.
Q: What inspired you to start the Random Acts of Kindness App?
A: I saw the world was fighting with each other and it felt like we needed to scale the effect of kindness. I wanted to show people what amazing things small daily acts of kindness can do to you and your loved ones. An app was the first step to do so. I have received tons of emails on how these acts have uplifted my users’ lives.
Q: What are your goals for the Random Acts of Kindness app in the future?
A: I want the kindness effect to be viral, the idea of pushing it forward. The more people using the app, the happier we will all be.
Q: Is there anything else you would like to add?
A: If you would like to download the app, the Android version is available here.
The 5 Million Star Hotel
Dreaming of your next socially distanced yet still adventurous vacation? Try this bubble retreat in Iceland. If you’re lucky, you’ll even be able to catch the Aurora Borealis.
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Shower Thoughts
People who use anti-aging cream must have some of the youngest looking fingertips.
When you’re swimming underwater, you’re also swimming above water.
From the clock’s perspective the hands spin counter-clockwise.
If your shirt isn’t tucked into your pants, your pants are tucked into your shirt.
Software would have a better chance of getting updated if it asked to update right before you close it rather than right when you open it.
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