Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund: In 1976, Michigan created a conservation fund from oil, gas and mineral revenues; 50 years later it has awarded nearly $1.4 billion and is putting $6.5 million toward almost 22,650 Keweenaw acres

One of the biggest allocations is for the Keweenaw Peninsula (Photo: Michael George via The Nature Conservancy) Michigan has awarded nearly $1.4 billion for land protection and recreation projects across the state. The Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund that was created in 1976, is also marking 50 years of a conservation fund that has used…

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New York City restaurants are saving 800 pounds of oyster shells from landfills every day and sending them to rebuild reefs, with 19 acres of reef habitat already restored | World News

New York City restaurants are giving discarded oyster shells a second life by keeping hundreds of pounds of them out of landfills every day and sending them to a project rebuilding oyster reefs across New York Harbor. The Billion Oyster Project collects more than 300,000 pounds of shells from participating restaurants each year, equivalent to…

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A Scottish scholar and his American wife bought the remote island of Canna; 43 years later they gifted it, their home and their life’s work preserving Gaelic culture to the National Trust for Scotland

Campbell and Margaret moved to Canna in 1938 after spending three years living on Barra. John Lorne Campbell and Margaret Fay Shaw had already spent years recording Gaelic songs, stories and traditions when they made the remote Isle of Canna their home in 1938. The Scottish folklorists continued that work from the island for more…

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Ohio construction workers found a kitten trapped inside an excavator; now she has her own hard hat and a job working with them | World News

A routine day at a construction site in Barberton, Ohio, turned into an unexpected animal rescue when workers discovered a tiny kitten trapped inside an excavator. The crew at River Reach Construction heard persistent meowing coming from a Komatsu machine and soon realised that the cries were coming from somewhere inside the heavy equipment. Supervisor…

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A San Francisco woman hires a humanoid robot for $30 an hour to clean her apartment while controlling it remotely from her sofa | World News

A San Francisco woman has given a glimpse of what home cleaning could look like in the age of humanoid robots after hiring one for $30 an hour to work inside her apartment. Gianna Capezio booked a one-hour cleaning visit from San Francisco startup Tau Robotics, with the humanoid robot vacuuming, making her bed and…

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A small Scottish town raised £6 million to buy 10,500 acres from a major landowner; its new nature reserve is now restoring 190 hectares of degraded peatland | World News

When people in the small Scottish town of Langholm set out to raise £6 million, they were not simply trying to buy a piece of countryside. Their campaign secured 10,500 acres and helped create the community-owned Tarras Valley Nature Reserve, turning an ambitious local vision into one of the region’s largest community-led conservation efforts. Now,…

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Singapore sends 70 tonnes of unwanted clothes to Malaysia every week in major textile recycling partnership | World News

Singapore is sending up to 70 tonnes of unwanted clothing to Malaysia every week under a cross-border textile recycling partnership designed to give discarded garments a second life. The initiative involves social enterprise Cloop, which collects unwanted clothes through its textile recycling bins before sending them to Life Line Clothing in Port Klang, Malaysia. The…

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Us Visa Appointments Pause: US halts visa appointments globally amid Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown

Visa appointment schedules will be adjusted to accommodate the training The US has paused visa appointments for applicants around the world as the Trump administration launches a global training programme for consular officers amid its broader immigration crackdown.A US State Department spokesperson said on Tuesday that the department had begun a training initiative at all…

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