26th August - 11th September: This fortnight's selection of progress, development and solutions

Covid hope, solar panel revolution, eradication of wild polio in Africa, happiest places in the world, the power of breath, stopping deforestation, solar powered planes, flying cars and reforestation!

Although the Oxford vaccine trial has paused, there are still plenty of reasons for hope. (The Conversation).

Tips and tools to separate fact from fiction when reading about COVID-19 news (The Fast Company).

Even though cases of coronavirus may be rising in the UK, the amount of people getting seriously ill is not rising at the same pace. Here are some reasons why

Future of Solar Panels: Transparent solar panels that look like windows

This revolutionary material could mean that a skyscraper built of transparent solar panels will not need to use energy - it will be able to power itself! Although we are not quite there yet, this development will help us get there much quicker! (Design Boom)

Africa has been declared free of wild polio

This milestone achievement is the result decades of hard work and years of campaigning by global and local leaders. They improved surveillance, improved education about polio vaccinations, worked with the community and after a lot of hard work, achieved this life saving result. (The Guardian)

How to create a happier planet

This podcast looks at some of the happiest places in the world. They travel in search of stories from all over the world to find out what the best ways are to create a happier planet? (BBC)

Green teen memes: how TikTok could save the planet

Thought it was just dance-routines? Think again! The video-sharing app has 800 million users, many of them conscious young eco-influencers campaigning on issues from climate change to biodiversity. It has shown itself to be an entertaining and powerful way to make changes at grass roots level. (Guardian Upside)

Parachutist makes world's first jump from solar-powered plane

There are many record breaking moments happening daily, but on the 25th August, a new record was created as it was the world's first that a sky diver jumped from solar-powered aircraft. The electric plane soared to a height of 1,520 metres over Western Switzerland. This success is something that will change the future for this sport for sky divers (Reuters)

This country regrew its lost forest. Can the world learn from it? 

Pedro Garcia has successfully restored the forest in Northern Costa Rica. What was once bare land has become home to hundreds of species and agricultural produce. The remarkable thing is that in the 1970’s and 1980’s Costa Rica has one of the highest deforestation rates in Latin America but with the work of Garcia and so many others, Costa Rica is the first tropical country to have stopped - and as a result, reversed - deforestation. There is a lot we could learn from Costa Rica. (CNN)