Global climate strike: Scenes from the #ClimateMarch protests

The week-long global protest, which is calling for an end to the age of fossil fuels, is taking place in more than 160 countries today.


SOPA Images / Contributor / Getty
  • Millions of people around the world are taking to the streets to demand more urgent action on climate change.
  • The protests come just days ahead of the 2019 UN Climate Action Summit.
  • Although it's unclear exactly how many people are participating, it's likely to be the largest climate protest ever.
Keep reading Show less
activism environment policy climate change

How can cognitive science inform the future of education?

The science of learning is decades ahead of the education system. How can we bring education into the present?

  • The education field has a wealth of cognitive science research that reveals how people learn, yet the applied practice happening is schools shows an enormous disconnect.
  • Things like school bells, siloed 'one-hour-one-subject' classes, traditional grades, and standardized testing are outdated design features of the education system.
  • Equitably educating all learners across diverse populations to help them be as successful as possible will require education innovators to put cognitive science to work in the field, and to re-educate policymakers on what school could look like.
  • This video is supported by yes. every kid., an initiative that aims to rethink education from the ground up by connecting innovators in a shared mission to conquer "one size fits all" education reform.
Keep reading Show less
education learning brain mind science children policy neuroscience testing inequality teaching

California bill to ban single-use plastic by 2030 failed to pass

After China stopped accepting recylables, California was put in a tough place.

Shutterstock
  • California attempted to ban single use plastics by 2030.
  • The bill couldn't pass through the necessary channels and was stopped by industry lobbyists.
  • Microplastics and plastic pollution in general are becoming increasingly more detrimental to the environment.
Keep reading Show less
china consumerism health policy public health sanitation water sustainability

California to ban ICE detention centers, private prisons

"People are not commodities!" said Assemblyman Rob Bonta.

Image source: Pixabay
  • California lawmakers voted in favor of a bill that would phase out private prisons, and four ICE detention centers in the state, by 2028.
  • California Gov. Gavin Newsom still needs to sign the bill, which he is expected to do.
  • Private prisons house a minority of the national prisoner population, but their populations have grown by 1,600 percent from 1990 to 2005, according to the Justice Policy Institute.
Keep reading Show less
policy inequality business prison

Elizabeth Warren: Boost Social Security by taxing the richest 2%

"We need to get our priorities straight," Warren said.

Boston Globe / Getty
  • Warren published a Medium post on Thursday outlining a plan to increase Social Security benefits by $200 per month, if she's elected president.
  • Social Security contributions are capped for Americans who make $132,900 or more per year. Warren wants to scrap that and impose new contribution requirements.
  • Left unchanged, Social Security will run out of its $2.9 trillion reserve fund by 2035, according to recent estimates.
Keep reading Show less
economics policy poverty politics