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“The world is full of magical things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.” -- W.B. Yeats
Hello everyone! We know that the same old ways of thinking bring the same results, yet we are living in a time that calls for innovation, ingenuity, and creativity. Our stories this week highlight people who are seeing the old and familiar in new ways. They include: using old batteries to power new electric vehicles, transforming utility boxes into creative art pieces, and a new technology that will allow individuals to interact with a hologram-style likeness of holocaust survivors. ‘Sharp senses’ are truly supporting our well-being and interconnectedness. :) Wishing you well and a week full of magical things!
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Jimmy Baum | Unsplash
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An aerial survey conducted via airplane in northern Guatemala led to the discovery of a massive Maya site. Researchers used lidar (light detection and ranging) in which lasers are beamed out and the reflected light is used to create aerial imagery of a landscape. "...for the first time an area that was integrated politically and economically, and never seen before in other places in the Western Hemisphere," said study co-author Carlos Morales-Aguilar. Researchers hope the technology will continue to help them discover areas in Guatemala that are still unexplored.
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Albert Laurence | Unsplash
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David Schaecter is 93 years old and a Holocaust survivor. For the past 60 years, he has dedicated his time to sharing the story of his struggle and survival - especially with students. Now, he is the 62nd holocaust survivor who has been given the opportunity to share his story using a new technology that "will allow future generations to interact with a hologram-style likeness of him."The technology was developed by the USC Shoah Foundation's Dimensions in Testimonies project. It records Holocaust survivor's answers to 1,000 questions, which will later be transformed into search terms. Once finished, the recording can be used in museum exhibits, schools, and other locations: people will be able to ask questions to a life-size image of a Holocaust survivor and hear and see the answers in real time. David Schaecter's testimony will form the basis of an exhibit at Boston's Holocaust museum, scheduled to open in 2025. For David Schaecter "the new technology is a chance to give testimony on behalf of the estimated 1.5 million children under 12 who lost their lives in the Holocaust and will never have a chance to speak."
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Waldemar | Unsplash
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There is a growing number of recycling companies working to provide an alternative to the landfill for lithium-iron batteries used in electronics and electric vehicles (EV's). While these recycling ventures are better for the environment than burying metals in landfills, they're also spurred by a booming market for electric vehicles. EV adoption is exploding in the US and around the world, bringing new demand for the metals that go into their batteries, especially lithium, nickel, and cobalt. Supplying all of those cars with batteries will require far more metals than are currently available. New advances in the recycling process for lithium-iron batteries are transforming the industry, allowing recyclers to separate and recover enough of these valuable metals to make the process economical. Thanks to these advances, recycling could account for a significant fraction of the metal supply in the coming decades.
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Cheav Chau
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After elementary school art teacher LeoAngelo Lacuna Reyes saw gang symbols and graffiti on utility boxes in his neighborhood in San Diego, California, he asked Mira Mesa Town Council for permission to paint over them. With leftover house paint donated by his neighbours, he turned one box near a library into a colorful four-sided bookcase that is no longer vandalized. More than 40 boxes have been transformed so far, and his students have also painted several community murals. Cheav Chau, 47, says she smiles every time she drives by the box that her twin sons, Joshua and Joseph Cho, 13, covered with sunflowers. "They love the idea of contributing something beautiful to the community and having their work out there on display," she said. Reyes is happy that other cities, including Medford, Oregon, Memphis, Washington DC and Arlington, Massachusetts, are doing the same thing.
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The Mersey river, in Liverpool, UK, had been declared "biologically dead" from industrial and sewage pollution decades ago. In 2022, 37 different species of fish were caught in the river by anglers. The Mersey Rivers Trust is a charity that works to improve the river both for people and the wildlife who live by it. "Over the last 30 years, there's been a tremendous regeneration, this renewal of the River Mersey that started slowly but is now picking up pace. I still think we're right at the beginning of something special," said Mike Duddy, employee of the Mersey Rivers Trust. Five different types of shark have been found as well as huge eels, sea scorpions, restaurant delicacies like turbot, and the very rare smelt. "It's the best environmental good news story in Europe without a doubt," Duddy said. He believes this could be a boost for the environment across the whole region and into North Wales.
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