The week's good news: June 15, 2023

1. For teen animator, working on 'Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse' was 'like a dream'

Preston Mutanga, 14, had no idea that when he recreated the "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" trailer using Lego characters, it would lead to a job offer. For years, Preston has been making computer-generated Lego videos on his dad's old computer. He shared his "Across the Spider-Verse" trailer online, and when Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, the directors of "The Lego Movie" and writer-producers for "Across the Spider-Verse," saw it, they were blown away by what he created and asked Preston if he would be interested in animating a scene for the movie featuring Lego blocks and figures. His dad built him a new computer, and Preston worked on the scene after finishing his homework. Preston told The New York Times that being able to work on the movie with "people who actually made this masterpiece was honestly like a dream."

The New York Times

2. 3D printer used to build schools in Madagascar

Give Thinking Huts a few days, and they'll turn an empty lot into a school campus. Founded by 23-year-old Maggie Grout, Thinking Huts is a nonprofit devoted to making education accessible in Madagascar. According to the United Nations, 3 out of 4 children living there don't go to school because of overcrowding or treacherous commutes. Using a 3D printer, in 18 hours Thinking Huts can build a structure a community can use as a classroom. In 2022, Thinking Huts completed its first campus in Fianarantsoa, a city of 200,000 people in south-central Madagascar. It has huts, solar panels, potable water, toilets, and WiFi. Soon, Thinking Huts will unveil its second campus, which will serve three villages on the west coast. Once schools are built, they are run by local partners. "We're really just aiming to be a stepping stone for [the community] to be successful on their own," Grout told Fast Company.

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Fast Company

3. Free book deliveries will keep kids reading over the summer

A special delivery is on the way for many Tennessee elementary school students. Through the K-3 Home Library Program, developed by the Governor's Early Literacy Foundation (GELF) in collaboration with Scholastic, rising first, second, and third-graders will receive in the mail six packages this summer containing grade-level books and evidence-based literary resources. The packages will also be sent to teachers and school librarians and media specialists. Altogether, the program will deliver 1.2 million books to more than 200,000 people, free of charge. The program began in 2020 to keep kids reading over the summer and limit learning loss, with books chosen by GELF's Educator Advisory Council, consisting of 28 Tennessee educators. A GELF survey found that 97% of parents said their kids were thrilled to receive the books and 33% now have more than 100 books at home because of the program.

Governor's Early Literacy Foundation

4. Endangered vaquita porpoise population steady in Gulf of California

Mexico's vaquita porpoises are holding steady in the Gulf of California. For two weeks in May, researchers sailed around part of the gulf, which is the only place vaquitas — the most endangered porpoise in the world — live. The team estimates it saw 10 to 13 of the porpoises, about the same number spotted in 2021. Vaquitas are small and elusive, and many of the sightings were through binoculars. The researchers saw at least one or two calves in the water, which was a hopeful sign. Vaquitas cannot be captured, held or bred in captivity. Because of illegal fishing, the vaquita population has dropped from 600 in 1997. Alex Olivera, the Mexico representative for the Center for Biological Diversity, told The Associated Press the new research is "encouraging news and it shows that vaquitas are survivors ... [but] we still need urgent conservation efforts to save these tiny porpoises from extinction."

The Associated Press

5. Scientists say new data contradicts belief that morality is declining

For decades, people worldwide have said they believe morality is declining, but new research shows this could be a cognitive illusion. Psychologists Adam Mastroianni and Daniel Gilbert examined surveys conducted in 60 countries between 1949 and 2019 about moral values, and found that in response to 84% of the questions, most participants said they felt morality had declined. In Mastroianni and Gilbert's own 2020 surveys, U.S. participants of all demographics said they thought people were less "kind, honest, nice, and good" now compared to earlier times. The researchers then studied similar historical surveys. "If, as people all over claim, morality has been declining steadily and precipitously for decades, then people's reports of current morality should also have declined over the years," the study authors wrote. They didn't, though, and Mastroianni said this means the perception of moral decline is either false or "it's at least very difficult to find any evidence that [it] has happened."

Nature