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Could underwater garages solve Boston's parking shortage?

Matt Rocheleau

August 22, 2017 |

The Boston Globe |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Boston, Massachusetts

Boston needs more parking spaces, especially in a neighborhood surrounded by water. It is looking to build an underwater parking garage, like the ones being built in Amsterdam, in order to free up street level space and add more parking to decrease car pollution from driving around searching for a parking spot.

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Can an Algorithm Save America's Justice System?

Jon Schuppe, Matt Toder

August 22, 2017 |

NBC News |

Broadcast TV News |

Under 3 Minutes

Response Location: United States, New Jersey

Although the cash bail system has long been used in the US criminal justice system, many argue that it is biased based on socioeconomic levels. To reduce this bias, criminal justice researchers and data scientists have created a new risk assessment tool that uses an algorithm taking age, history of missing court and former crimes into account before making a recommendation on bail.

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Tweet Streams: How Social Media Can Help Keep Tabs on Ocean Health

Bela Stantic, Rod Connolly, Susanne Becken

August 18, 2017 |

News Deeply |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: Australia, Queensland

In an effort to collect data about the environmental health of high traffic destinations, researchers are examining the text and images of geotagged social media posts. Tweets about the Great Barrier Reef were analyzed for relevant information about specifically where people visited, common activities, and common complaints. While people passively provided data by geotagging posts, researchers are also proposing creating hashtags that allow for people to actively communicate data to researchers through social media posts.

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These Tree-Planting Drones Are About To Start An Entire Forest From The Sky

Adele Peters

August 10, 2017 |

FastCompany |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Myanmar, Pathein, Ayeyarwady

Villages along the Irrawaddy River delta in Myanmar have spent years replanting mangroves in at attempt to restore their ecosystem and guard against the negative effects of climate change, but it is a labor intensive and time-consuming process. Now, with the help of specially-designed tree planting drones from startup BioCarbon Engineering, as many as 10,000 trees can be planted in a single day, using technology that not only distributes seeds in special pods, but is able to calculate optimal soil conditions, locations, and species of tree most likely to survive in any given area.

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How Louisville Crowdsourced a Treatment For Asthma Attacks

Laura Bliss

August 09, 2017 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Louisville, Kentucky

The Kentucky metro area has some of the worst air quality in the country, leading to concerning rates of asthma and respiratory disease well above the national averages. But a group called AIR Louisville has implemented a creative, crowdsourced solution that utilizes GPS-enabled inhalers to help patients identify and address asthma patterns based on numerous factors such as avoiding heavily-polluted parts of town, and identifying the best treatments based on lifestyle needs.

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Will Cities Ever Outsmart Rats?

Linda Poon

August 09, 2017 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Washington, District of Columbia

It is currently estimated that there are 2 million rats in New York City. With numbers that high, cities including Washington, D.C. and Chicago along with New York City have teams employed solely to control the rat population. Efforts have previously been futile, however, as little is known about this species. Recognizing this problem, some cities have begun working with researchers and computer scientists to use big data to not just control the current rat populations, but also predict where the rodents will infest next and attempt to thwart their next move.

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Fiji's Climate Champion Speaks Up for Women in the Wake of Cyclones

Sonia Narang

August 08, 2017 |

News Deeply |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Fiji, Burenitu, Viti Levu

After a huge cyclone devastated a remote Fijian village, Eta Tuvuki worked to open communication channels between women and public officials. Her efforts are not only making women's voices heard, but they allow for the dispersal of critical information during disasters.

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Why Salt Is This Power Plant's Most Valuable Asset

Molly A. Seltzer

August 04, 2017 |

Smithsonian |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, McIntosh, Alabama

One of the greatest challenges to integrating renewable energy sources into the power grid has been the issue of storage - where and how to keep power generated during off-hours (such as overnight) when demand is low. While batteries are on the rise as one solution, an Alabama power plant has discovered a natural way of storing energy until it is needed: pumping air into salt caverns.

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Rise of the Government Chatbot

Zach Quaintance

August 04, 2017 |

Government Technology |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

City governments have been implementing “chatbots” to provide a way for residents to both communicate with city government as well as receive information about and assistance with services through text or Facebook. Chatbots provide a means for residents to interact with services all day as well as reduces city staff’s workload.

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How technology is helping cities cope with mass migration

David Hatch

August 01, 2017 |

Citiscope |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, San Francisco, California

In an era of mass migration and vast displacement, communities and governments around the world are struggling to cope with the influx of millions of immigrants and refugees. But different innovations in technology are making integration easier and increasing access to resources for new arrivals - from mobile banking accounts to online housing databases. Part 3 of 3.

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