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1. United States Researchers from the University of Maryland and Yale have made a breakthrough in the search for sustainable plastic alternatives, developing a wood-based bioplastic that disintegrates in a few months. For comparison, conventional plastic can take centuries to break down. The new bioplastic is created by using a biodegradable solvent to deconstruct wood powder found at lumber mills into a slurry, which can then be shaped into common plastic products, such as shopping bags and other packaging. Why We Wrote This Creativity to benefit the environment reigns in this week’s progr...

Sometimes I forget it’s there: a solid, seamless piece of pale green stone, smooth and cold. My grandmother squeezed this jade bangle onto my wrist – at my request – when I was 11.   When I left home for university, the bangle began to feel inconvenient. It clashed with my outfits and drew curious looks and the awkward question of where I was from. I’m Malaysian, but I didn’t grow up there. I’m from Brunei, but I’m not Bruneian. I’m Chinese, but not from China.  Why We Wrote This The search for one’s identity is universal. For this essayist, a traditional piece of jewel...

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The U.S. economy may be reviving faster than many businesses can keep up with. Suddenly consumers are facing scarcities for everything from lumber to copper, computer chips to rental cars. Job applicants are scarce, too, in some rebounding sectors like restaurants.  Americans can expect more such shortages and price increases, economists say, as eager-to-spend consumers contemplate a post-pandemic economy and as record government stimulus boosts demand. The silver lining is that, while challenging for now, most of these shortages are expected to be temporary. Why We Wrote This The economic ...

President Joe Biden’s one-year expansion of tax credit to American families to around $250-300 a month per child has shone an analytical light on Germany, Australia, Canada, and about 100 other countries that provide some kind of universal child benefit. Germans have long enjoyed the world’s largest child benefit, called Kindergeld or “children money.” Both left and right approved of it when it was rolled out decades ago, and today the policy is too beloved to touch. Why We Wrote This Kindergeld payments illuminate the values of the country’s social democratic fabric. What Kinderg...