Ada Palmer

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Ada Palmer
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F&SF Novelist (Terra Ignota), historian (U Chicago), Renaissance, book history, censorship, classics, disability activism, FILK music Sassafrass, manga/anime Tezuka, chronic pain blog: exurbe.com homepage: adapalmer.com Next nonfiction:: Inventing the Renaissance Next fiction:: Norse Myth!
US coal generation has collapsed from about 50% of electricity in 2005 to just 14% today. It’s one of the fastest energy transitions in modern history. Nearly 400 plants have retired or been scheduled for closure, and operating a coal plant now costs more than building new wind and solar in every state. #ShareGoodNewsToo
400 years ago, Jubilee Marsh was walled off from the sea and stopped being a saltwater marsh. In the mid-2000s, the Royal Society for the Protection Of Birds bought the land and decided to ‘rewet’ the marsh. Just letting the sea back in wouldn’t be enough though — the land had sunk — but in London, the Crossrail project was excavating the Elizabeth line tunnel and needed a place to put dirt. Cue collaboration, and now a hugely successful bird refuge #ShareGoodNewsToo
Britain ends new fossil fuel exploration. The government has introduced a legal moratorium on all new oil and gas exploration licences, ending five decades of North Sea expansion and aligning policy with 1.5°C targets. Existing fields will keep producing under stricter climate tests, but future investment will now flow to offshore wind, carbon-free heat and upgrades to the grid. Greenpeace UK #ShareGoodNewsToo
In Europe, rewilding is reversing the fortunes of ‘Empty Spain.’ In the sparsely populated Serranía Celtibérica, a decade of rewilding efforts has revived ecosystems, wildlife and rural livelihoods. Semi-wild herbivores and predators are returning to abandoned farmland, local timber and resin businesses are gaining sustainable footing, and young volunteers are helping build a rewilding movement rooted in community and ecological renewal. Rewilding Europe #ShareGoodNewsToo
3,150-year-old papyrus reveals the world’s earliest recorded labour strike. New analysis of the Turin Strike Papyrus—a detailed account from 1157 BCE—shows how artisans building the royal tombs at Deir el-Medina staged a coordinated walkout after going 18 days without grain rations. The document reads like an ancient industrial dispute: workers blocking gates, sending written demands to officials, and ultimately winning emergency payments. #ShareGoodNewsToo
15,000 acres of New York’s Adirondacks has passed from private hands to parkland — and for the first time in 100 years, will be re-opened to the public. 6,000 acres along ten miles of the Raquette River will now allow hiking, paddling and camping, while 9,000 additional acres around the lake are protected as a freshwater research preserve supporting rare cold-water species. The Nature Conservancy #ShareGoodNewsToo
The U.K. will ban the sale of plastic-based wet wipes from 2026, targeting a major source of sewer blockages and riverine microplastics. Water companies say wipes form up to 90% of fatbergs, costing millions to remove and degrading ecosystems downstream.The ban forces a full market shift toward biodegradable alternatives that the country’s pipes and treatment plants can actually handle, closing a long-standing gap in wastewater regulation. BBC #ShareGoodNewsToo
Powerful new malaria drug offers first serious alternative to artemisinin in decades. Novartis’ new drug cured more than 97% of malaria cases in a Phase 3 trial of 1,688 adults and children across 12 African countries, matching or beating current artemisinin-based therapies while killing drug-resistant strains and blocking transmission stages. If regulators approve, it will be the first frontline malaria drug of its kind in over 25 years. Reuters https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/new-effective-anti-malaria-drug-could-help-fight-rising-resistance-says-novartis-2025-11-12/ #ShareGoodNewsToo
#BlackoutFriday Join unions 💪 & organizers 🤝 today by avoiding spending. The BIG ones to to Say NO to are: 🎯Amazon (Whole Foods) 🎯Home Depot 🎯Target 🎯 Walmart. Say no to merchants making money off of ICE and complicity with authoritarianism. Say no to big corporations axing DEI. image
Clean power growth is now covering all new global demand; and fossil fuels are falling in China and India. Solar and wind generated 635 TWh in the first nine months of this year, exceeding the 603 TWh rise in global electricity demand, and holding fossil generation flat for the year. China’s fossil generation fell 0.7% in the last 12 months compared to the previous period. India’s fossil generation declined by 2.5%. https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/q3-global-power-report-no-fossil-fuel-growth-expected-in-2025/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email #ShareGoodNewsToo