Welcome back to our weekly behind-the-scenes glimpse at what’s getting our team talking. Tell us what you’ve been reading at info@reasonstobecheerful.world and we just might feature it here. Filthy clean energy Denver’s goal is to reduce its greenhouse gases to zero by 2040, which means throwing everything it possibly can at the problem — and apparently, that includes sewage. According to an NPR story shared by Contributing Editor Geetanjali Krishna, the Colorado capital will pilot a “thermal energy network” to heat and cool some of its buildings. These buildings will be linked together by a loop of circulating water that will be warmed, in part, from heat drawn from the city’s sewage system (yes, sewage is hot — try not to think about it.) Geetanjali says: It feels like the kind of innovation Indian cities should be experimenting with instead of endlessly installing air-conditioners (although as temperatures in New Delhi are hitting 110 F and up, the AC is my best friend these days!) Suddenly I See Flooding neighborhoods with cops may cut down on crime, but the tactic comes with consequences. What if crime could be zapped with something much simpler: light? An Atlantic story shared by Executive Editor Will Doig delves into the evidence showing that good urban lighting doesn’t just make crime move to darker places — it reduces it. Will says: I’ve always been a little creeped out by the anti-crime flood lights installed on certain blocks by the New York Police Department, which somehow feel menacing in and of themselves. But we had a fatal late-night shooting down the block from my apartment a few weeks ago, and it’s hard not to wonder whether the death might have been prevented with something as simple as better lighting. What else we’re reading  A Cattle Ranch Is Doing What the Ivy League Can’t — shared by Contributing Editor Michaela Haas from the New York Times  Come for the Biking, Stay for the Otters — shared by Founder David Byrne from Bloomberg News (subscription required)  “This May Well Be the Most Consequential Case in the History of Humanity” — shared by Contributing Editor Michaela Haas from Meditations in an Emergency Meet the “Hyper A.D.U.” — shared by Will Doig from the New York Times In other news… Last week, RTBC Founder David Byrne performed on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert — one of the show’s last musical acts before it went off the air forever. Watch the performance here. The post What We’re Reading: Denver’s Newest Clean Energy Source Will Be Sewage appeared first on Reasons to be Cheerful.