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. No mow FOMO We’ve long been sold on the benefits of even very small wild patches — we’ve covered how to restore your yard’s biodiversity, London’s Wild West End project, sidewalk gardens in the Netherlands and more. So Editorial Director Rebecca Worby was pleased to read about how “No Mow May” is boosting the biodiversity of gardens in England. As the Guardian reports, encouraging wildflowers to grow can help to bring back pockets of grassland.  “The more [the garden grows], the more addicted I get to it,” one gardener told the Guardian. “I just like to see what comes up.” Becca says: Happy No Mow May! Would be great if other places picked this up … and then kept it going all year. Family matters Thanks to New York state’s paid family leave law, more birthing parents are now taking paid postpartum leave in New York City, according to a Gothamist story shared by Executive Editor Will Doig. New data from the city’s health department shows that parents faced fewer barriers to taking leave, such as not being able to afford it and fear of losing their jobs.  However, there is still plenty of room for improvement: Lower-income residents on Medicaid remain less likely to take paid leave than those on private insurance, and racial disparities persist, with white or Asian or Pacific Islander (API) parents the most likely to take paid leave. Will says: New York has worked hard to become a more family-friendly city over the last several years, so it’s good to see that its paid leave law is doing what it’s supposed to. What else we’re reading Colin Jost and Pete Davidson Can Offload Their Boondoggle Ferry by Sinking It, Artificial Reef Experts Say — shared by Rebecca Worby from The City Why this tribe is buying up hundreds of acres of farmland — and flooding it — shared by Contributing Editor Michaela Haas from NPR Offshore wind farms take shape along Rhode Island’s coast, even as Trump wants to stop them — shared by Rebecca Worby from AP News In other news… In this month’s edition of The Spark, our newsletter about creating positive change, we explored the ways that death teaches us to connect. There is no solution for grief, of course, but we learned about people finding solace in unexpected places — like deaf cafes and grief discos. Want to receive The Spark in your inbox? Subscribe to receive our weekly and monthly newsletters here. The post What We’re Reading: No Mow May Gets Wild appeared first on Reasons to be Cheerful.

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM The numbers from China’s National Energy Administration tell a story that is clearest in two parts. First: over 250,000 metric tonnes per year (approximately 275,000 US short tons) of green hydrogen capacity is now operational in China, more than double what existed at the end of 2024. Second: a further 900,000-plus metric tonnes per year is currently under active construction. The gap between what is running and what is being built is the signal. China’s hydrogen industry has not arrived; it has only recently started. Bian Guangqi, Deputy Director of the Department of Energy Conservation and Technology Equipment at the National Energy Administration, said at a government press conference in April 2026 that the country has moved beyond demonstration and into large-scale development. Where the capacity is, and why The Northeast region dominates, accounting for 45.7 percent of China’s total operational green hydrogen capacity from water electrolysis projects. North China contributes 30 percent, the Northwest 21.8 percent, and all other regions combined make up roughly 2.5 percent. At the province level, Jilin and Inner Mongolia stand out. Jilin’s operational capacity has exceeded 90,000 metric tonnes per year; Inner Mongolia has passed 80,000 metric tonnes per year. Both provinces benefit from high renewable energy endowments, wind in particular, that make electrolysis-based hydrogen production genuinely cost-competitive. In 2025 alone, the Northeast added over 100,000 metric tonnes per year of new capacity. Project sizes are the real indicator What is running today is mostly modest in scale. The average operational project sits at around 4,900 metric tonnes per year, with more than half of all individual sites below 1,000 metric tonnes. In other words, much of the existing infrastructure is still demonstration-scale. The construction pipeline looks nothing like that. Projects currently being built average around 13,000 metric tonnes per year each, nearly three times the size of what is already operational. Projects above 10,000 metric tonnes per year now account for 38 percent of the pipeline. Several sites rated at 50,000 metric tonnes per year or more have already broken ground in Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, and Jilin. Eight projects exceeding 10,000 metric tonnes per year are already in operation across those three provinces, and that number will grow substantially as the current construction wave completes. Two ways to use it Beyond production figures, China’s hydrogen build-out is converging around two distinct approaches. The first pairs electrolysers directly with renewable power to decarbonize specific industrial processes: oil refining, coal chemical production, mining, and port transport. Large wind and solar installations are being used to supply electrolysers that provide flexible grid resources as a secondary function. The second model takes green hydrogen and uses it to produce ammonia and methanol at scale. This matters for a practical reason: hydrogen is difficult to store and transport over long distances; ammonia and methanol are not. Converting fossil-derived ammonia and methanol supply chains to green feedstocks opens global trade routes that pure hydrogen cannot access. Both models reflect an industry that has moved past early-stage experimentation toward deliberate integration with China’s existing industrial base. The policy backbone This expansion runs on foundations laid during China’s 14th Five-Year Plan, which formally prioritized renewable hydrogen production in the country’s Medium- and Long-Term Plan for Hydrogen Energy Industry Development (2021-2035). The 15th Five-Year Plan, now in effect through 2030, targets regional self-sufficiency in clean hydrogen and commercial-scale industrial deployment. The 1 million metric tonne (approximately 1.1 million US short ton) mark is a data point, not a ceiling. The construction wave now underway will add several times more capacity than everything built and operated to date, and the individual projects in that pipeline are three times larger than those currently running.     This solution is highlighted by The World Business Academy, the umbrella organization producing The Optimist Daily. To learn more, please visit our website. The post China’s renewable hydrogen capacity crosses one million tonnes first appeared on The Optimist Daily: Making Solutions the News.

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM The house Tala and Farah Mousa were living in was bombed. So they looked at the rubble and started asking what it could become. Their answer is Build Hope, Palestine: a way to turn debris from damaged buildings into reusable blocks. Crushed and sieved rubble, mixed with clay, ash, or glass powder, then molded and dried. No machinery. No supply chain. The raw material is on the ground everywhere they look. How rubble becomes a building block The blocks are non-load-bearing, which makes them practical rather than ambitious: garden beds, pavements, partitions. The kind of everyday infrastructure a neighbourhood needs while the heavier rebuilding work takes years. “The view from my window is what keeps me always motivated,” Tala shares. “The large amount of rubble and the lack of accessible rebuilding solutions inspire us to work on this project. The solution is decentralised, low-cost, and relies on locally available materials. It’s designed to be replicated by communities without heavy machinery or specialised infrastructure, and turn what was once destruction into a starting point for hope.” That last phrase describes what the blocks actually are: material from something that has fallen, shaped into something useful. Teaching the method, not just making the blocks The sisters aren’t trying to produce bricks at scale on their own. The plan is to teach 100 young people to make at least 200 blocks, then have those people teach others, reaching over 1,000 people as the method spreads. Once someone learns it, they don’t need Tala and Farah to keep going. A global competition, and a first for Gaza Build Hope was selected as one of the top 35 teams in The Earth Prize 2026, the world’s largest environmental competition for 13 to 19-year-olds. The sisters are one of only five teams from the Middle East in this year’s cohort, and the first from Gaza in the competition’s five-year history. The Earth Prize is run by The Earth Foundation, a Geneva non-profit that has reached over 21,000 students across 169 countries since 2019 and awarded over $500,000 to young people developing environmental solutions. Seven regional winners will be announced between May 11 and 17, each receiving $12,500. The global winner follows on May 29. Peter McGarry, founder of The Earth Foundation, said: “By transforming debris into practical solutions for their community, they are empowering others to take part in recovery. Their project captures what The Earth Prize stands for: bold, locally grounded ideas with the potential to create meaningful impact.”   Tala Mousa and Farah Mousa of team Build Hope – Palestine. Why this works where other approaches don’t Most rebuilding comes from the outside: aid organisations, imported materials, contractors. Build Hope runs the other direction. The material is local. The knowledge stays with whoever learns it. Nothing about it requires a stable economy or an intact supply chain. The sisters were displaced again recently and had to leave their prototype behind. But the prototype doesn’t matter as much as the method itself. And the method cannot be lost to those who learn it.The post Gaza sisters turn rubble into bricks to rebuild their community first appeared on The Optimist Daily: Making Solutions the News.

An artificial intelligence model developed by the Mayo Clinic can help specialists detect pancreatic cancer on routine abdominal CT scans up to three years before clinical diagnosis, according to a new study. The AI can identify subtle signs of disease before tumors are visible, when curative treatment may still be possible. The findings, published last […] The post Mayo Clinic’s AI Can Detect Pancreatic Cancer up to 3 Years Before Diagnosis–When Treatment is Still Possible appeared first on Good News Network.

Are you an American who has fantasized about having dual citizenship with Canada, our neighbor to the north? It opens you up to greater job opportunities, allows you to move between countries depending on economic conditions, and lets you qualify for domestic tuition in both nations. Further, with two passports, international travel becomes a lot easier, and you have more options when it’s time to retire. Dual citizenship also gives you greater freedom when it comes to health coverage. Would you prefer the private system in the United States or the single-payer system in Canada? Millions of Americans may now qualify for Canadian citizenship After a new Canadian law was passed in December 2025, millions of Americans, especially those in the Northeast, may be able to qualify for Canadian citizenship more easily. The passage of Bill C-3, part of the Canadian Citizenship Act, reversed a 2009 law that limited eligibility for Canadian citizenship to first-generation relationships only. As droves of Americans apply for proof of Canadian citizenship, processing times have doubled https://t.co/YMDoQ3XBhF— CanadaVisa (@canadavisa_com) April 20, 2026 Now, Canadian citizenship is open to anyone who can provide proof of direct lineage from a parent, grandparent, or even great-grandparent who became a Canadian citizen on or after January 1, 1947 (this date differs for those who lived in the province of Newfoundland). However, if the ancestor renounced Canadian citizenship, eligibility stops there. Are those with dual American-Canadian citizenship eligible for Canadian healthcare? Some fries with gravy. Photo credit: Canva Americans who are eligible for dual citizenship and want to take advantage of Canada’s universal healthcare can qualify if they live in Canada for a certain number of days each year. For example, if you live in Ontario for at least 153 days a year, you can qualify for Canada’s healthcare system. However, if you have dual citizenship, you can’t simply travel from Detroit to Windsor whenever you want to see a doctor. Since the law was passed in late 2025, thousands of Americans have applied for dual citizenship. Nicholas Berning, an immigration attorney at Boundary Bay Law in Bellingham, Washington, said that his legal practice has been “flooded” with applicants. Amandeep Hayer, an immigration attorney in Vancouver, British Columbia, told The Associated Press that his practice went from 200 cases a year to over 20 consultations a day. Hayer estimated that millions of Americans could qualify for dual citizenship under the new law. Cassandra Fultz, an Ottawa-based immigration consultant, said that her American caseload has surged from 10 applicants a month to 100. “There’s been a very steady increase in interest in moving to Canada since November 2024, which is unprecedented. I’ve never seen this in my 17 years in the industry,” Fultz told CNN. A woman looking at a Canadian lake. Photo credit: Canva How much does it cost? If you have documents proving that you had a parent, grandparent, or great-grandparent who was a Canadian citizen, the cost to apply for Canadian citizenship is only $75 CA ($55 U.S.). However, costs can quickly rise if you need to hire an attorney or obtain death or marriage certificates to prove your case. There’s an old saying: “But without one nest, a bird may call the world its home.” If you’re an American who wants to broaden your horizons and expand your opportunities to choose the life you wish, check your family tree. You may be eligible for Canadian citizenship. The post New Canadian law means millions of Americans are now eligible for Canadian citizenship appeared first on Upworthy.