🍄 Waterless Toilets Powered by Mushrooms

We hope you had a great weekend. From a mushroom-powered outhouse in a university garden that turns waste into fertilizer without a hint of odor, to coyote statues cleverly guarding school playgrounds from pesky birds, creativity is making life cleaner and greener.

We also meet “Elton,” a plant-eating croc from Montana that’s rewriting what we know about ancient reptiles, and follow archivists racing to rescue digital treasures from the brink of the ‘Digital Dark Ages.’

🎧 P.S. Don’t miss today’s new episode of Good News To Go, your 5-minute boost of joy on the move.

—Stephanie S

A team at the University of British Columbia has created the MycoToilet, a waterless composting toilet powered by mushroom mycelia. This innovative outhouse separates solids and liquids, using fungi to break down waste and eliminate 90% of odor-causing compounds.

The result is over 600 liters of soil and 2,000 liters of liquid fertilizer produced each year, all without unpleasant smells. The project aims to reconnect people with natural cycles and rethink how we handle waste.

Researchers are testing different fungi to find the most effective species for composting and odor control. The MycoToilet is currently being trialed in the university’s botanical garden, blending sustainability with practical design.

This project highlights the potential of mushrooms to transform waste into valuable resources, supporting a more circular and eco-friendly approach to sanitation.

A freshly discovered crocodilian species, Thikarisuchus xenodentes, nicknamed “Elton,” lived in Cretaceous Montana and dined on plants and insects. Measuring just 2-3 feet long, Elton was adapted for life on land and had unique teeth for its varied diet.

The fossil was found by a student and digitally reconstructed, revealing a new family of crocodyliforms.

This find highlights the surprising diversity and adaptability of ancient crocs.

Schools in Menlo Park, California, have found a clever way to keep playgrounds clean by installing coyote statues to scare off crows and geese. The idea came from a principal’s father in Canada, where fake coyotes are used in parks to deter birds.

The statues have proven effective, reducing bird droppings and water use for cleaning. Some neighbors were startled at first, but now enjoy the playful solution.

Both students and staff appreciate the cleaner, safer play areas.

Archivists at Cambridge University are racing to save historical treasures trapped on old floppy disks before they become unreadable. Their project, Future Nostalgia, began with disks from Stephen Hawking and now seeks to preserve writings from other notable figures.

Floppy disks pose unique challenges due to their many formats and fragile nature. The team must track down rare hardware and software to access the data.

By digitizing these early digital records, the project hopes to prevent a gap in our cultural memory and invites the public to contribute their own forgotten disks for preservation.

75 years ago today, Tom Petty was born in Gainesville, Florida. At age 11, a chance meeting with Elvis Presley sparked a lifelong love of rock and roll. As frontman of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, he became one of America’s greatest songwriters, crafting anthems like American Girl, Free Fallin’, and I Won’t Back Down. Over his career, Petty sold more than 80 million records, earning a place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the hearts of generations.

Beyond the Heartbreakers, Petty joined George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, and Jeff Lynne to form The Traveling Wilburys, a supergroup whose chemistry was as effortless as it was legendary. In later years, he championed artist rights, spoke openly about overcoming addiction, and credited Transcendental Meditation for bringing him peace. His enduring influence remains a soundtrack for resilience and rebellion.

Other notable October 20 events:

1933: Albert Einstein arrived in the U.S. after fleeing Nazi Germany.

1955: The Return of the King, the final volume of The Lord of the Rings, was published.

1979: The John F. Kennedy Library opened in Boston.

2004: The Boston Red Sox completed the greatest comeback in MLB history, reversing a 0-3 deficit to defeat the Yankees.

🛩️ Massachusetts: MIT engineers have developed a 3D-printed aluminum alloy that is five times stronger than traditional aluminum.

🐾 Virginia: After going missing and sparking a viral search, a beloved Lowe’s store cat named Francine was found safe in a neighboring state.

🐢 UK: A runaway pet tortoise was safely rescued by railway staff after wandering onto train tracks in Oxfordshire.

🧪 Maryland: Scientists have developed the first-ever antidote for carbon monoxide poisoning, a protein therapy that rapidly removes the toxic gas from the bloodstream in minutes.

🚒 USA: Fire incidents and fire-related deaths have dropped by two-thirds since 1980, thanks to improved safety measures, building codes, and public awareness.

— Henry Miller

Every day brings amazing advances and uplifting moments that remind us just how wonderful the world can be. Here are five reasons why today is the best time ever to be alive:

🔇 Quiet Homes: Noise-canceling windows are improving urban living by reducing sound pollution in crowded cities.

🌫️ Fog Harvesters: Community water harvesters are collecting fog to supply clean drinking water.

❤️ Heart Alerts: AI-enabled heart monitors are sending real-time alerts to prevent cardiac events.

⛴️ Green Ferries: Electric ferries are cutting carbon emissions and creating quiet waterways.

🌾 Seed Exchanges: Community seed exchanges are preserving crop diversity and traditional farming knowledge.

At a nature center in Long Island, a wildlife rehab director performed a delicate surgery to replace a monarch butterfly’s damaged wing, using a donor wing, contact cement, cornstarch, and a tiny wire. Against all odds, the butterfly flew again, reminding us that compassion and creativity can take flight in the smallest ways.

👉 Catch this, along with other amazing stories from around the world, in this week’s episode of Good News To Go.

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