• Plastics, consumer goods makers in $1.5 billion pledge to rein in waste
• Mysterious radio signals from deep space detected
• The most exciting corporate sustainability moves

• World media on Transcendental Meditation
• On Veterans Day - Remembrance Day: Transcendental Meditation helps veterans overcome PTSD
• Principles of Vastu Planning in the Light of Group Theory: New book published

• Just one or two experiences with marijuana may alter teen brains
• Antarctica is losing ice 6 times faster today than in 1980s
• Too much salt: water desalination plants harm environment: U.N.

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Positive Trends
Short Summaries of Top Stories

Plastics, consumer goods makers in $1.5 billion pledge to rein in waste
17 January 2019 - Global companies including BASF, DowDuPont, Procter and Gamble and SABIC have formed an alliance to fight plastic waste, pledging to spend $1.5 billion over the next five years. The Alliance to End Plastic Waste (AEPW), unveiled by its 28 founding companies on Wednesday (16 January), convened amid reports of a worsening environmental crisis ... the alliance's spokesman said more would likely join over the next few weeks. (more)

Mysterious radio signals from deep space detected
9 January 2019 - Astronomers have revealed details of mysterious signals emanating from a distant galaxy, picked up by a telescope in Canada. The precise nature and origin of the blasts of radio waves is unknown. Among the 13 fast radio bursts, known as FRBs, was a very unusual repeating signal, coming from the same source about 1.5 billion light years away. ... The research has now been published in the journal Nature. (more)

The most exciting corporate sustainability moves
1 January 2019 - 2018 was quite the year for companies -- from Apple to UPS to Ikea -- trying to lighten their environmental footprints. This is by no means a complete picture of all the sustainability work happening in the private sector-and that is something that should be a cause for optimism. (more)

Five reasons to feel hopeful about the oceans in 2019
30 December 2018 - Five good reasons to be optimistic about the world's oceans in 2019: There are unknown ocean habitats waiting to be found; More of the ocean is protected from human activity; There are new species to be discovered; Coral reefs may be more resilient than we think; and, some fisheries are recovering. Plus, considered extinct nearly a decade ago, the world's rarest bird, the Madagascar Pochard, has been released into the wild. (more)

7 upbeat stories of improving lives in 2018
26 December 2018 - While headlines in 2018 were dominated by sombre stories ... there were also some positive and brighter headlines. Here are seven of them: (more)

New face of capitalism sees business put planet before profit
19 December 2018 - Be it banning plastic or enshrining worker rights, an increasing number of businesses are reinventing the way they operate by putting people and the planet before profit. For some companies, that has involved a public and transparent overhaul of their business model, as well as their social and environmental impact, through an ambitious certification scheme called B Corporation, or B Corp. Globally, more than 2,700 companies across 150 industries have been certified since the scheme launched in 2006. (more)

Globally, new solar power plants added almost 35 percent to new power generating capacity in 2017
18 December 2018 - For the 8th year now, solar power attracted the largest share of new investments in renewable energies, according to the new JRC PV status report 2018. The EUR140billion investments in solar energy globally accounted for almost 60 percent of all new renewable energy investments. While the annual investment grew by 18 percent, the newly installed capacity of solar photovoltaic power increased by 32 percent to almost 100GW in 2017. (more)

House in order: Carbon emissions from buildings level off
7 December 2018 - As climate-changing emissions continue to rise, lower pollution from greener buildings and construction are a bright spot. The UN Environment report called for more pledges to make building construction greener, in national climate action plans submitted for the 2015 Paris Agreement to curb climate change. (more)

Vibrations offer new way to track elephants
1 December 2018 - Researchers have come up with a new way of tracking elephants, via the vibrations that the animals make. Scientists Dr Beth Mortimer and Prof Tarje Nissen-Meyer discovered that elephants generate vibrations through their normal movements and through vocalizations, known as 'rumbles'. These can be measured by techniques usually used for studying earthquakes. (more)

Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) supporting governments to transit towards a model of economic growth
29 November 2018 - Though [the Global Green Growth Institute] was established on 16 June 2010 as a non-profit foundation under Korean Law it was converted into a full-fledged international organization on 18 October 2012. The number of Global Green Growth Institute states is growing fast with 30 members countries that have already ratified their treaties and another 30 on the way to membership, these 60 countries are a group of Green Growth Champions. (more)

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Success of Maharishi's Programmes
Short Summaries of Top Stories

World media on Transcendental Meditation
20 February 2017 - A selection of recent news media reports about Transcendental Meditation includes the Danish magazine IN interviewing Dr Charlotte Bech, a medical doctor who has been teaching the technique in Denmark for over 20 years; Bridgewater Associates hedge fund founder Ray Dalio's comments to Business Insider about introducing TM to 735 employees; and New York Times articles about Saturday Night Live actress Vanessa Bayer, and George Stephanopoulos of ABC's Good Morning America, who starts his day with an early morning TM session. Forbes magazine reported, 'TM has been having a renaissance in recent years: Celebrities, businesspeople, and regular folk are practicing it in record numbers.' (more)

On Veterans Day - Remembrance Day: Transcendental Meditation helps veterans overcome PTSD
11 November 2016 - Operation Warrior Wellness (OWW), a division of the David Lynch Foundation, offers the Transcendental Meditation-based Resilient Warrior Program, a simple, easy-to-learn, evidence-based approach to relieving symptoms of PTSD and major depression and developing greater resilience to stress. Since its launch in 2010 in the USA, the OWW initiative has partnered with leading veterans service organizations and VA medical centers to deliver the Resilient Warrior Program to veterans, active-duty personnel and military families in need. The initiative also partners with military colleges to create a new generation of more resilient officers. (more)

Principles of Vastu Planning in the Light of Group Theory: New book published
17 January 2016 - A new book--Principles of Vastu Planning in the Light of Group Theory--describes the principles that underlie the measurement system used in Maharishi Vedic architecture in the language of Group theory. The Vastu measurement system is based on the square and its eight levels of symmetry. Using the concepts of modern Group theory from mathematics, the author shows the deep principles at the foundation of the measurement system of Maharishi Vastu design in a way that explains their logical significance. (more)

Creating world peace on the International Day of Peace and every day
21 September 2015 - Today, 21 September, is the day designated by the United Nations and observed around the world as the 'International Day of Peace' or 'World Peace Day'. For this annual observance, the UN 'invites all nations and people to honour a cessation of hostilities during the Day, and to otherwise commemorate the Day through education and public awareness on issues related to peace.' Organizations teaching Transcendental Meditation worldwide are upholding the ultimate value of this theme--simply by continuing what they've offered every day for many years: the TM programme. This natural, effective technology of consciousness has been scientifically proven to reduce stress, violence and conflict and create peace for the individual and society. Creating world peace is not the reason most people give for why they want to learn to meditate. Yet this was Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's goal when he first introduced Transcendental Meditation in 1958. (more)

Transcendental Meditation improves school performance
15 April 2015 - It seems common sense that happy, focused students learn more and feel better at school. Yet the idea that educational outcomes depend on the learner's state of mind, and not just on what is taught and how, usually gets far less attention than it deserves. Fortunately, there are schools in many countries where developing the 'knower' is considered an essential part of education--through incorporating Transcendental Meditation practice into the school day. Research has found that even in high-risk, low-performing districts, schools with curricular TM practice show high academic achievements. Outcomes include reduced stress, improved brain functioning, increased intelligence, and higher graduation rates. (more)

Today - Conference call for women: 'Women transforming the world'
1 February 2015 - Today the 10,000 Women Initiative continues in 2015, with the first in a series of six phone conferences to be held throughout the year. Women are invited to join in this bimonthly 'virtual assembly' and learn how women can become a powerfully nourishing agent for positive change in the world, by awakening the nourishing power of consciousness within. Today's conference call features a discussion on the topic of 'Women transforming the world'. (more)

New book features experiences of enlightenment throughout history, and how to culture them today
4 January 2015 - A new book, The Supreme Awakening: Experiences of Enlightenment Throughout Time--and How You Can Cultivate Them, by Craig Pearson, PhD, features a wide range of sublime, exalted, transcendent experiences reported by great saints, sages, poets, scientists, political leaders, athletes, and others representing the world's cultures through history. The Supreme Awakening shows that what they described are experiences of advanced stages of human development, higher states of consciousness--experiences of enlightenment. Drawing on the work of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the book explains the origins of these experiences and categorizes them according to Maharishi's model of seven states of consciousness. Dr Pearson explains that ordinary men and women today are enjoying these same kinds of sublime experiences--how they can be cultivated systematically, naturally, and effortlessly through the regular practice of Transcendental Meditation. (more)

21 new Maharishi Vastu architects complete training
25 September 2014 - Earlier this summer 21 architects from 13 countries graduated from an intensive, two-month training programme as fully certified Maharishi Vastu architects. Their country affiliations, contact information, and pictures are featured on the Maharishi Vastu page on Facebook, organized according to their region of the world. (more)

Twenty-one architects, newly trained in Maharishi Vastu architecture, practising in 13 countries
27 August 2014 - Maharishi Vastu Architecture News is featuring more information about the recent international professional training course on Maharishi Vastu architecture in the Netherlands. Twenty-one architects from 13 countries graduated from the recent comprehensive, two-month training course at Maharishi European Research University (MERU) in Holland. The news post includes photos of the 21 architects, grouped according to country and region of the world, and their contact information, for those wishing to pursue Maharishi Vastu building projects in their areas. (more)

Silence and dynamism - The basis of progress
21 August 2014 - Maharishi Mahesh Yogi explains that Transcendental Meditation is a process to 'bring the mind back to silence, and from there release the thought. Bring the mind back to silence, and then you have a lively basis for the projection of a thought, lively basis for the sprouting of a thought. Then the thought will be promoted by the infinite creative intelligence of Natural Law. That is the theme. Let the thought be promoted from a lively field at the basis of all evolutionary process, which is the field of silence.' (more)

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Flops
Short Summaries of Top Stories

Just one or two experiences with marijuana may alter teen brains
17 January 2019 - Teens who use pot just one or two times may end up with changes to their brains, a new study finds. There were clear differences on brain scans between teens who said they had tried cannabis a couple of times and those who completely eschewed the drug, researchers reported in the Journal of Neuroscience. There have been hints that even small amounts of pot at a young age might impact the brain, said the study's lead author, Catherine Orr, a lecturer at the Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia. (more)

Antarctica is losing ice 6 times faster today than in 1980s
14 January 2019 - Antarctica is melting more than six times faster than it did in the 1980s, a new study shows. Scientists used aerial photographs, satellite measurements and computer models to track how fast the southern-most continent has been melting since 1979 in 176 individual basins. They found the ice loss to be accelerating dramatically -- a key indicator of human-caused climate change. (more)

Too much salt: water desalination plants harm environment: U.N.
14 January 2019 - Almost 16,000 desalination plants worldwide produce bigger-than-expected flows of highly salty waste water and toxic chemicals that are damaging the environment, a U.N.-backed study said on Monday (14 January). Desalination plants pump out 142 million cubic meters (5 billion cubic feet) of salty brine every day, 50 percent more than previous estimates, to produce 95 million cubic meters of fresh water, the study said. (more)

Media freedom group records increase in journalists killed
18 December 2018 - Media freedom group Reporters Without Borders said Tuesday (18 December) it has recorded an increase in the number of journalists killed and imprisoned worldwide so far this year. The Paris-based group, also known by its French acronym RSF, said 63 journalists died in relation to their jobs from January 1 to December 1, 2018, compared to 55 in 2017, as well as four media workers. Another 13 people it described as 'non-professional journalists' -- people who didn't have official media cards but who were involved in the production of news and information -- also died, while 348 were held in detention around the world. (more)

Scary statistic: 90.5 percent of plastic is not recycled
18 December 2018 - The world's burgeoning plastic waste crisis has won the attention of Britain's Royal Statistical Society, which chose 90.5 percent -- the proportion of plastic waste that has never been recycled -- as its international statistic of the year. The society . . . picked the statistic generated in a U.N. report based on the work of U.S. academics Roland Geyer, Jenna R Jambeck, and Kara Lavender Law. (more)

Global carbon emissions set to rise further this year: study
5 December 2018 - Global carbon dioxide emissions are set to rise nearly 3 percent this year due to continued fossil fuel use, scientists said on Wednesday (5 December), dashing hopes that an increase in 2017 was temporary after two years of slowdown. World emissions grew by 1.6 percent last year and will increase even more this year due to the sustained use of coal, oil, and natural gas, an annual report by the Global Carbon Project showed, a group of 76 scientists in 15 countries. (more)

Whale songs and war: The less talked-about climate impacts
1 December 2018 - Near Antarctica, whales are singing in deeper tones to cut through the noise of melting icebergs. In California, a big college football rivalry game was postponed until Saturday because of smoky air from wildfires. And Alaskan shellfish were struck by an outbreak of warm water bacteria. ... And climate change has altered global politics. Numerous studies have said it was a factor in record-setting drought in Syria -- one of several causes of the country's civil war that triggered a massive refugee crisis. ... Conflict over climate change impacts is not confined to Syria. (more)

Climate change is more extensive and worse than once thought
29 November 2018 - Climate scientists missed a lot about a quarter century ago when they predicted how bad global warming would be. They missed how bad wildfires, droughts, downpours, and hurricanes would get. They missed how much ice sheets in West Antarctica and Greenland would melt and contribute to sea level rise. They missed much of the myriad public health problems and global security issues. Global warming is faster, more extensive and just plain worse than they once thought it would be, scientists say now. (more)

World is woefully short of 2 degree goal for climate change, according to UN report
28 November 2018 - If there is one consistent message about climate change that has been made abundantly clear in a flurry of recent major assessments on the topic, it is that our planet's climate is already changing, and now is the time to act to avoid devastating impacts. According to a United Nations report released Tuesday, however, projected emissions of carbon dioxide, the primary greenhouse gas, from nations around the world fall woefully short of the 2 degree Celsius goal set in the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015. (more)

Climate change: CO2 emissions rising for first time in four years
27 November 2018 - Global efforts to tackle climate change are way off track says the UN, as it details the first rise in CO2 emissions in four years. The emissions gap report says that economic growth is responsible for a rise in 2017 while national efforts to cut carbon have faltered. (more)