We finally saw a colossal squid

Hey fam,

Let's end your week on a high note.

The sun is shining, it's getting warmer, I volunteered at an amazing free Farmer's Market yesterday (more to come on this soon), and it's the weekend! I hope you were able to get outside and touch some grass on Earth Day.

This week we're covering deep sea discoveries, circular economies, plant-based hospital meals, three teens inventing an amazing salt-powered fridge, and much more. Please enjoy!

Friday, April 18

The first-ever footage of a colossal squid in its natural environment was just captured...

100 years ago, this amazing animal in the glass squid family was identified and named, based on adults growing to 23 feet long weighing over 1,000 pounds.

But barely anything was known about this heaviest invertebrate known to science, seen in shaky footage taken by fishers or as bits and pieces found in stomachs of other animals.

So a 35-day mission was launched, led by Dr. Michelle Taylor of the University of Essex, aimed at discovering new marine species by the South Sandwich Islands, an area of the ocean so remote that oftentimes the nearest humans to the team were on board the International Space Station!

The global collaboration between the Nippon Foundation-Nekton Ocean Census, Schmidt Ocean Institute, and Go South dove down nearly 2,000 feet where they came across this young transparent squid measuring about a foot long.

They filmed it without knowing what species it was, but experts later identified and confirmed, bringing us one step closer to understanding this elusive giant, and the mysteries of the deep sea.

Can new discoveries like these motivate us to protect our oceans?

Monday, April 21

🇦🇺 Australia’s coastlines now have their lowest levels of plastic pollution in the past decade, per a new study which measured a 39% reduction over the past 10 years while gathering data to improve policies and clean-ups, hopefully meaning that we can continue this momentum while holding producers accountable to end unnecessary plastic (Oceanographic)

🗽 New York City’s mandatory composting law prevented a record 2.5 million pounds of food scraps from entering the landfill in just a week, so much that the Department of Sanitation is giving away free bags full of compost to use in home gardens, with a new site in Astoria, Queens joining two others in Brooklyn and Staten Island in a beautiful circle turning food into compost to then grow more food (DSNY)

🔃 The EU just confirmed a plan to make technology, furniture, and clothes last longer by making stricter design standards that force products to be more durable, repairable, and recyclable, pushing the 27 nations towards a circular economy (James Fernyhough|Politico)

🌊 hangrylov (from our community) fundraised and donated money to help clean up our oceans on their birthday.

Tuesday, April 22

*This was a paid collaboration just for social media, but I wanted to include it here as well to fill in today's gap and provide more interesting content that you may like :)

Happy Earth Day! I teamed up with the iconic GivingTuesday movement to tell the story of Cash "The Conservation Kid", a young superstar who's cleaning up his local rivers and inspiring others to follow their passions. If you're interested, check out his story!

Wednesday, April 23

🌊 A 3D printed seawall that should protect from storm surges and provide habitat for marine species is being tested, designed with textured grooves and pockets that mimic a natural shoreline home for species like barnacles, oysters, and sponges while better absorbing waves (The Conversation)

🥗 By making plant-based meals the default in New York City’s public hospitals, the majority of patients are now eating healthier with a 98% satisfaction rate while saving the city money and decreasing environmental damage, since most people just go with the first recommended option even though others are available (Michael Grunwald|Canary Media)

⚠️ Warning labels similar to those on packs of cigarettes may soon be coming to gas in Colorado that very clearly state the science that using the products creates pollution, has negative health impacts, and harms the planet, to make this knowledge hard to ignore and push towards public transportation (Fast Company)

🪴 bdragonette (from our community) got started on a gardening kick, growing plants to share with friends and herbs to eat which has dramatically improved their mental health.

Thursday, April 24

🪏 Haleigh Holgate is collecting native seeds from wetlands across California for habitat restoration, using her expertise to collect the seeds from hundreds of native plant varieties to then get tested and cultivated to bring supply up to the demand needed to conserve 30% of the state’s lands by 2030 (Dani Anguinao|The Guardian)

🧂 Three teens named Dhruv, Mithran, and Mridul designed a salt-powered fridge that cools itself without needing electricity and is reusable, which they called Thermavault and won a prize which will help them test safely bringing vaccines, medical supplies, and even organs to 120 rural hospitals in India (Morgan McFall-Johnsen|Business Insider)

🌞 Thousands of homes are getting completely free solar and batteries to create a "virtual power plant", in a unique approach by a startup paying for and installing the tech to later get rebates, providing lower energy costs and backup power to homes in exchange for sending electricity back to the grid when it’s stressed from higher demand (Julian Spector|Canary Media)

🖼️ katefitzpatrickart (from our community) is working on an accessible mural festival featuring artists from the deaf community.

Bonus!

🌱 Students turned a shipping container into a greenhouse.

🔥 California now allows Indigenous fire burns, and it's paying off.

🦜 Saving one of the rarest and most beautiful parrot species in Brazil.

Spread this breath of fresh air🪴

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This newsletter was written by Jacob Simon. 900,000+ people are in our community across Instagram, TikTok, Threads, YouTube, and Bluesky. You can say hi on LinkedIn, or by emailing jacob@jacobsimonsays.com.