first, take action...

• Heartbreakingly, there was another school shooting yesterday in Georgia — at least four people were killed. Despite how regularly this happens, it’s important we don’t get desensitized to it: there are data-backed, proven ways to prevent school shootings.​
• Today would be a great day to contact your elected officials and ask them to pass common-sense gun safety legislation: we wrote a sample script to help you get started.

Today’s Top Good News Story

Helping reduce delays for survivors, new tech is helping speed up DNA collection in sexual assault cases

While nearly half a million sexual assault cases are reported every year in both the U.S. and Canada, countless more go unreported. The most common reason is a lack of trust in the justice system, partly because of how long the process takes.

And that distrust is not misplaced: the “rape kit backlog” has long been an issue for survivors and anti-violence advocates. While law enforcement systems must change to address the problem — DNA collection is also vital.

Newly published research outlines a technique for analyzing DNA evidence that could radically streamline the forensics pipeline — helping reduce delays and bring justice to survivors faster.

Why is this good news? As it stands now, processing evidence in sexual assault cases is highly technical and there are lots of hurdles — which can take days or weeks. Much of this time is spent transporting evidence to the lab, but delays are also due to a large queue of cases requiring analysis. This new forensic tech helps speed things along.

→ Read more​

Together with Playbook

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More Good News

​The U.S. FDA just approved the first automated insulin delivery system for people with Type 2 diabetes. Now approved for adults with Type 2 diabetes, the system had already been approved for people 2 years and older with Type 1 diabetes.

​A new study found that the risk of death for people who donated a kidney has dropped by more than half in the last decade. While the risks for a kidney donor have always been low, advances in surgery and medical care, along with more careful donor selection, have made it safer than ever before.

​LEGO is on track to replace the fossil fuels used in making its bricks with renewable and recycled plastic. The company has tested more than 600 different materials to completely phase out oil-based plastic as it aims to make all of its products from renewable and recycled materials by 2032.

[More good: LEGO also recently changed up its physical store design to better support autistic shoppers.]

Good Read of the Week

“Fail-A-Bration!”

by Brad and Kristi Montague

This may look like a kids book — but both kids and former kids are invited to read (and join the) “Fail-A-Bration!” Bestselling authors Brad and Kristi Montague wrote this fun, affirming book to find the joy in trying and learning — even if you don’t succeed.

Why we’re reading: More than a book, the Montagues created a whole movement to celebrate the fact that failing is just part of the process of learning to do something better. As people looking for new solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems, trying is essential — and even when we get things wrong, learning is still making progress.

→ Pre-order the book (ships next week!)

More Good bits

🦎 Scientists may have just discovered a (teeny tiny) new species in Australia. ​

🎬 A trans actress could make Oscars history.​

🎽 When it comes to cooling fabric, chalk-coating is the new moisture-wicking.

🗳️ The data is in: There was a triple-digit spike in voter registration in July (and it was mostly young people).

🍩 The best ranked-choice voting explainer we’ve ever seen.

*Some of these recommendations may include affiliate links, which means if you buy anything from this email, we may get something in return at no extra cost to you. (Thanks for your support!)

What’s good?

I’m not keeping a tally to elect the best donut, but I still want to know…

What’s your favorite donut flavor?

Hit “reply” and cast your vote!

— Megan