Inspiring News Articles
Excerpts of Highly Inspiring News Articles in Major Media
Below are one-paragraph excerpts of highly inspiring news articles from the major media. Links are provided to the original inspiring news articles on their media websites. If any link fails, read this webpage. The most inspiring news articles are listed first. You can also explore the news articles listed by order of the date posted. For an abundance of other highly inspiring material, see our Inspiring Resources page. May these inspiring news articles inspire us to find ever more ways to love and support each other and all around us to be the very best we can be.
It wouldn't be wrong to say Sam Shoemaker crossed the ocean on a mushroom. This August, the Californian artist launched his 14-foot kayak off Catalina Island and paddled for 12 hours across the 26.5-mile Catalina Channel to San Pedro. The brownish-white boat itself [was] "a boat made entirely from a single mushroom growing outside my studio," Shoemaker explains – the world's largest mushroom boat. He built it from wild Ganoderma polypore collected near his LA studio, propagated in a hemp-and-sawdust substrate for about four weeks, molded into kayak form and dried until it became "a strong, hydrophobic and inert, cork-like material." Mycelium, the interconnected root network of a fungus such as Ganoderma polypore, can grow to hundreds of acres. The boat was sealed with locally sourced beeswax, using no synthetic materials. Shoemaker's multiyear project wasn't commercial – he is simply interested in demonstrating mushrooms' potential. His invention is part of AquaFung, a term coined – and a movement inspired – by artist Phil Ross that hopes to one day replace Styrofoam and other materials that go into water with fungi, as part of the nonprofit Open Fung. In their quest, Shoemaker and Ross are members of a sprouting global community of artists, engineers, high-end designers and environmentalists, intent on producing sustainable inventions from mushrooms. For Ross, mycelium is not just a material but a mystery and companion.
Note: Explore more positive stories like this in on technology for good and healing the Earth.
Parents with small children, teenagers, and senior citizens clustered outside the door and waited to hear their ticket numbers called. They weren't there for books. They came to shop for groceries. Connected to the [Enoch Pratt Library], the brightly painted market space is small but doesn't feel cramped. Massive windows drench it in sunshine. In a previous life, it was a cafĂ©. Now, shelves, tables, counters, and a refrigerator are spread out across the room, holding a mix of produce and shelf-stable goods. On any given day, there's a range of produce, like collard greens, apples, onions, radishes, potatoes, and cherry tomatoes, plus eggs, orange juice, rice, bread, and treats like cookies and peanut butter crackers. As they exited, shoppers did not need to pull out their wallets: No one pays at Pratt Free Market. Launched in the fall of 2024, Pratt Free Market opens its doors every Wednesday and Friday and serves around 200 people per day. Anyone can pick up food at the store without providing identification or meeting income requirements. For Baltimore residents, 28 percent reported experiencing food insecurity last year–twice the national average. Pratt Free Market ... offers a mix of everything–from healthy, fresh produce to sweets. And every fourth Friday, the marker turns into "Pantry on the Go!", a farmers' market-style setup outside the library that offers fruits and vegetables. Last month ... they handed out onions, sweet potatoes, watermelons, celery, and apples.
Note: Explore more positive stories like this on reimagining the economy.
