Texas Alzheimer’s patient who saw brain plaque disappear shares story in national campaign - YouTube

While I am encouraged by this news, I find it odd that it hasn’t gotten much attention.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87yKM-A0ua4

Even the organization that’s said to be using her story for national awareness isn’t quite doing that.  

https://www.brightfocus.org/home/hope-after-an-alzheimers-diagnosis-teri-and-gails-story-of-resilience/

The drug company isn’t saying that they have a cure, but are having encouraging results in early trials, with repeated treatments. Here’s a doctor summing it up: 

https://www.facebook.com/BrightFocusFoundation/videos/for-decades-alzheimers-disease-treatment-meant-managing-symptoms-thats-changing-/758293067241697/

Again, it’s a cautious note to look beyond the headline and understand the nature of the story itself. 

This El Niño Will Be Unlike Any in the Past Eight Decades - The Atlantic

This story is about the climate event called el niño. It is an area in the pacific that has a direct effect on the global weather. Understanding it is an important part of planning for the weather. It delves into some of the science behind what it tells us - and the reality is that our worth will be “worse” this year. 

But there’s a little subtext. While the US lags behind in climate science, the rest of the world is picking up the slack. 

The article is behind a paywall, but you can read it here. 

https://archive.is/2026.09.01-021630/https://www.theatlantic.com/science/2026/08/el-nino-effects/688429/

Luca McGill - Society for Science

Here’s a student who wanted to know more about CO2 emissions. Was there a higher concentration at different altitudes? Was it different in rural versus urban settings?

So he used a drone and a raspberry pi fitted with a detector to find out. 

I won’t spoil the results, but will tell you he learned something along the way. 

Curiosity and a little effort made for an interesting experiment that was well thought out and he did a good job of conducting it. 

https://www.societyforscience.org/jic/2025-student-finalists/luca-mcgill/

ground-breaking-invention-could-revolutionize-the-bioplastic-industry-f202608-n/

A student saw an opportunity to go beyond recycling.  She invested $2,500 to find an environmentally friendly enzyme that can break down PET plastics. 

Her success won her the 2026 eco grand prize, which included some money to continue to invest into other compounds and expand her work. 

https://en.as.com/latest_news/meet-the-18-year-old-student-whose-ground-breaking-invention-could-revolutionize-the-bioplastic-industry-f202608-n/

1.3m plastic bottles collected in a day in global volunteer ocean cleanup | Plastics | The Guardian

There’s an adage to “think globally, but act locally.”

Back in the 1980s, a group called “ocean conservancy” held an event to clean up the beaches along Texas’s coastline. They managed to signup 2,800 volunteers and spent a weekend cleaning up. 

They were on to something, and grew the organization. It currently consists of 19.7 million people, across 166 countries. 

It’s not just a weekend of activity, but lots of individual events held throughout the year. 

And to date, they estimate that they have managed to collect 184,000 tons of waste, with much of the 439 million items being plastic water bottles. 

The great part is that you don’t have to belong to the group to contribute (though certainly you can). You can head down to a local beach (or a park that may have pollution) by yourself or with a group and just start collecting things and dispose of them properly. 

The earth thanks you. 

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/aug/26/plastic-bottles-coastal-cleanup-ocean-conservancy

Panda Express's Founders Built a $7 Billion Empire. Now They're Helping 55,000 Employees Become Homeowners

The summary of the attached article is that Panda Express is privately owned. They are touting that they help employees to become homeowners. Sounds nice, right?

The company made $7 billion last year and has about 55,000 employees - most of which are hourly people making a little above minimum wage. 

There are some managers in the ranks, and they start at $65k, while the higher level managers can make as much as $200k. 

And this “help” they provide is in the general benefits package. It teaches people what it takes to buy a house and suggests ways to save money for a down payment and how to afford monthly payments. 

It strikes me that this kind of thing really should be in every company’s benefits package. It’s nothing special, really. 

And it’s a sad statement on the nature of things that greasy chicken from a mall food court is an industry this large - and the owners just rake in that money. 

By the way, the company does run a children’s charity. But it’s not funded by the company or its owners. Rather, they ask customers to “round up” and that money goes to the charity. 

So it’s not like the owners are doing much, really… 

https://www.inc.com/amaya-nichole/panda-express-founders-built-7-billion-dollar-empire-now-helping-employees-become-homeowners/91396527

Words to live by.

In the memoir by Gladys West, she talks about her upbringing, and her faith. 

There’s a passage where she reminds us that this bible - that many conservatives seem to have never read yet claim to have - has some passages about being better, benefitting others, and in her estimation sharing one’s knowledge and wealth.