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Legos, Meditation, Video Field Trips: How One D.C. School Is Using Virtual Clubs to Help Students Break Through the Isolation — and Reconnect With Friends — During the Pandemic

Taylor Swaak

March 04, 2021 |

The 74 |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Washington, District of Columbia

Themed, online student clubs are a new, home-grown venture for Two Rivers Elementary School in Washington, D.C. Previously, afterschool programming was run in-person and primarily by the network’s after care provider and outside agencies. The school started running a handful of virtual clubs at their respective campuses serving a few dozen students around late September, with weekly attendance growing as the number of clubs expanded.

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‘They track every move': how US parole apps created digital prisoners

Todd Feathers

March 04, 2021 |

The Guardian |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States

State and federal parole officials have rushed during the pandemic to embrace the use of smartphone apps that monitor the location and behavior of a person on parole. The apps and related data analytics save courts money and time by easing the need for face-to-face meetings. While there are potential benefits as well for the people being monitored, such as not wearing stigmatizing and uncomfortable ankle monitors, some complain the apps are even more intrusive than traditional monitoring – and perhaps more apt to lead to technical violations of parole that can land people back in prison.

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Schools Look To Algorithms To Flag Students Who May Harm Themselves

Alisa Roth

March 03, 2021 |

NPR |

Radio |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Mason City, Iowa

Companies like Gaggle are typically used by school districts to track student online behavior, but now they are tracking something else—self-harm. Machine learning flags words that might indicate a student is thinking of hurting themselves. “It gives us insight into what the student's thinking.” Gaggle identified 64,000 student references to suicide and self-harm. The company claims to have saved 927 student lives. In Mason City, districts receive alerts when a student’s search is flagged. “Nicole Pfirman says there have been a few times where she believes an alert saved a kid's life.”

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The Hottest Amenity From Developers? A Power Plant Made of Batteries.

Patrick Sisson

March 03, 2021 |

The New York Times |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Salt Lake City, Utah

An apartment complex in Utah includes a solar battery in every apartment allowing the resident, power utility, and building developer to save costs for generating electricity. Through a unique partnership, the power systems can provide 12.6 megawatts of power for the building, which translates into residents saving up to 40 percent on the energy bills. This setup might not be easy to scale, but the developer plans to expand the model in other states.

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For those frustrated with vaccine system, a crew of volunteers is ready to help

Felice J. Freyer

March 02, 2021 |

The Boston Globe |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Massachusetts

A community effort is underway in Massachusetts to help people secure Covid-19 vaccination appointments, despite a confusing government roll-out system. The Massachusetts COVID Vaccination Help volunteer group is composed of volunteers from across the state, who are using their free time to help individuals schedule appointments. Although there are concerns about privacy, users thus far have commended the group's persistence and success in booking appointments.

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‘There's so much gratitude': engineer who created viral vaccine site for $50

Miranda Bryant

March 01, 2021 |

The Guardian |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, New York

Frustrated with the Covid-19 vaccination system in New York, a local software engineer created a "much-needed vaccination appointment-finding bot" that shares available times and locations on a website and Twitter. Although the website was not built "in the way that modern websites are supposed to be built," it has still been extremely popular and users have reported successfully booking appointments because of it.

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Singapore Turns To Cultured Meat To Boost Its Food Security

Claire Turrell

February 26, 2021 |

Life & Thyme |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Singapore

Singapore recently became the first country in the world to allow cultured meat to be sold to the public, a move that scientists and environmentalists say is the future of meat production. U.S.-based company Eat Just takes stem cells from live tissue, mixes it with a broth, and puts it into a bioreactor to allow the cells to multiply and form connective tissue. While cultured meat can be expensive to produce, they sold its chicken — a maple waffle chicken dish and crispy chicken bao — to diners for $17.

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An AI is training counselors to deal with teens in crisis

Karen Hao Abby Ohlheiser

February 26, 2021 |

MIT Technology Review |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

Crisis hotlines and chat services are turning to technologies such as AI tools to help assist an oft-overburdened system. At The Trevor Project, AI is used as both a risk assessment tool and as a role-play simulator to train volunteer counselors to correspond with callers. Users of these tools stress that they are not a replacement for counselors, but rather a tool to help the humans in these roles.

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It looks like the Batmobile, works on solar energy, and could be the future of cars

Sarah Kaplan Aaron Steckelberg Jane Hahn

February 25, 2021 |

The Washington Post |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, San Diego, California

Aptera Motors, a California-based startup, is poised to roll out the first mass-produced solar vehicle this year: for $25,900. The car is a three-wheel, aerodynamic electric vehicle covered in solar cells that can provide energy to drive about 40 miles. The model is not 100 percent efficient with some energy lost in its electrical current conversion and in its drive system, but the creators say it is four times more effect than an average electric vehicle. Still, when the company started taking preorders, they sold out of its first 330 vehicles in 24 hours.

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How new technology is helping to identify human rights abuses in the seafood industry

Virginia Gewin

February 25, 2021 |

The Counter |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Ghana

A growing number of governments, companies, and nonprofit organizations are working together with new technology and data to identify fishing vessels that are breaking laws and engaging in human rights violations. Using satellite imagery and tracking signals, for example, a philanthropic company and a nonprofit worked with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime to help the Ghanian navy arrest four vessels for illegal fishing practices. Technology by itself won’t stop forced labor and unregulated ships, but it can be helpful for cash-strapped governments looking to increase oversight of their fisheries.

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