by Susanne Courtney | 15 Oct 2020 | Africa, Health and Wellness, Technology, World
A Canadian tech firm and foundation have teamed up with an NGO in Rwanda to offer a chatbot that answers young people’s questions about sex. Screenshots of a smartphone with the IrindeBot chatbot (photo courtesy of Rival Technologies Inc) Talking about sex is...
by Paul Spencer Sochaczewski | 5 Oct 2020 | Economy, Environment
It makes potato chips crispier, soap frothier, lipstick smoother and fried foods crunchier. Consumers love palm oil — but at a cost to our environment. Environmental activists evacuate an orangutan whose habitat is threatened by oil palm plantations, rubber...
by Jonathan Thatcher | 28 Sep 2020 | Asia, Environment, Health and Wellness
COVID-19 has slashed incomes in Indonesia, spurring illegal logging, poaching and mining. The environment and wildlife habitats are taking a hit. Activists protest against a government bill they say would harm the environment, Jakarta, Indonesia, 14 July 2020. (AP...
by Leela Rosaz Shariyf | 14 Jul 2020 | Health and Wellness, Miss Porter's School, Technology, Youth Voices
U.S. teenagers are increasingly depressed and spending more and more time on smartphones. But technology, used wisely, can make us smarter, safer and happier. A young man on his smartphone, Munich, Germany, 9 December 2014 (Tobias Hase / picture-alliance / dpa / AP...
by Dylan Carlson-Sirvent | 27 May 2020 | Environment, Health and Wellness, News Decoder Updates
Want to ensure the impact of COVID-19 on the environment slows climate change? Then be sure to vote, a top environmentalist tells a News Decoder webinar. Tom Burke (upper left) leads webinar on COVID-19 and climate change. What can young people do to ensure that...
by Malcolm Davidson | 29 Apr 2020 | Economy, Environment, Health and Wellness
Past cataclysmic events have triggered major changes in the world. Will COVID-19 galvanise the fight against global warming and slow globalisation? New Delhi’s skyline on 1 November 2019 (top) and 20 April 2020 (bottom). (AP Photo/Manish Swarup) After the...
by Tira Shubart | 22 Apr 2020 | Africa, Environment
Elephants, rhinos, pangolins and lions are under threat from poachers of endangered wildlife. Meet the dogs that sniff out contraband in Africa. (Photo courtesy of Paul Joynson Hick/African Wildlife Foundation) Today — April 22, 2020 — is the 50th anniversary of the...
by Tira Shubart | 16 Apr 2020 | Health and Wellness, Science, Space
Six astronauts are safe from COVID-19 during their space travels. Their research might eventually yield lessons that save lives on earth. The crew of the International Space Station, 9 April 2020 (EPA-EFE/ROSCOSMOS/HANDOUT) There are six people who have a very...
by Ryan Rothman | 30 Mar 2020 | Chadwick School, Contest winners, Environment, Student Posts, Youth Voices
Plastic pollution hurts humans, animals and the environment. Students from around the world gathered recently to share tactics in tackling the problem. (Photo by Ryan Rothman, Dana Point, California, 29 February 2020) This story was runner-up in News Decoder’s...
by Sue Landau | 27 Mar 2020 | Environment
The coronavirus pandemic is confronting us with sacrifices we may have to make to save our planet from climate disaster — lockdown as a dry run. Maps published by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration using data collected by the European Space Agency...