Good News Tuesday: Safety for Children and Animals, Ending Chronic Homelessness, London Air Quality, and Hidden Figures Recognized

November 12, 2019 by JoAnna 29 Comments

Seeking Balance One Tuesday at a Time

 

Sensor Detects Children and Animals Left in Vehicles

A small, inexpensive device, developed by researchers at the University of Waterloo, can detect unattended children or animals in a car. The device is 100% accurate and uses a combination of radar and artificial intelligence. It’s designed to be attached to the rear view mirror or mounted on the ceiling. I know we shouldn’t have to depend on sensor. We all need to be mindful of safety for those who depend on us to take care of them. But this sensor can help the ones who are vulnerable.

Here are the details: https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/ai-sensor-to-save-kids-left-in-cars-could-be-installed-by-2020/

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Ending Chronic Homelessness

Three US cities have ended chronic homelessness and nine have ended chronic homelessness for veterans.

“By ending homelessness, we mean getting to a place where it’s rare, brief, and it gets solved correctly and quickly when it does happen.”

Rosanne Haggerty,  Community Solutions,

 

The following article explains a program, Built for Zero, a program that uses systemic data to track homeless community members in real time to identify and coordinate services.  The success appears to be related to focus, monitoring, and commitment.

You can click here for the details.

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Central London Air Quality Has Improved with New Rules

the Ultra Low Emissions Zone was established in central London, toxic emissions have fallen by 36%.  The city created a toxicity charge for older vehicles that don’t meet standards in the zone.  A big motivator for creating the ULEZ was an increase in children suffering chronic illness and lung damage as a result of air pollution.

“I am determined to stop Londoners breathing air so filthy it is damaging our children’s lungs and causing thousands of premature deaths,” Khan says. “The ULEZ shows what we can achieve if we are brave enough to implement such ambitious policies.”     ___London Mayor Sadiq Khan

For more information, visit this article from NPR.

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Women Who Inspired “Hidden Figures” to Get Congressional Gold Medals

In October, the US Congress passed the The Hidden Figures Congressional Gold Medal Act to award Gold Medals to Katherine Johnson and Dr. Christine Darden and posthumously  to Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson.  The women are being nationally recognized for their significant contributions to NASA during the “Space Race” of the 1960s. The US Congressional Gold Medal is the highest civilian recognition in the United States.

You can  read more about these courageous pioneers in   this CNN article, 

and in this article from Black Voice News

Below are two great scenes from the movie, Hidden Figures, based on the book, Hidden Figures, The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race, by Margot Lee Shetterly.  The women who were once hidden figures had to overcome both entrenched sexism and racial prejudice.

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