Make the world a better place

This would be a great place to start.

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So much this, too.

Regret doing something - don’t regret not doing it.
You may not regret it at all

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When visitors to Poole Museum reach its second floor, they are greeted with displays that showcase the stories and lives of famous and influential Poolers who have shaped the coastal [Dorset] town.

In one cabinet on this floor sits a small rock. One could perhaps be forgiven for thinking that this is a local paleontological find, considering Poole’s proximity to the home of 19th-century fossil hunter Mary Anning, one of England’s earliest and most famous paleontologists. This is not the case, however, as this rock’s discovery is more recent, but is still a highly treasured find.

In the summer of 2019, a young girl by the name of Bethan was visiting Poole Museum with her mom. While exploring all the site had to offer, she and her mother began to discuss what museums do and why. Inspired by her visit, Bethan felt eager to support the museum’s collection. She decided to donate her most precious treasure, something that she felt was appropriately significant and valuable: her favorite rock. Curators placed Bethan’s Rock in a glass cabinet, just like many of the museum’s other valuable artifacts, where visitors are now able to appreciate the piece as much as Bethan once did.

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Look at the credited authors. The second one, Sophia Spencer, is an 8-year old girl who was bullied for her love of insects.

When she moved school as a 7-year-old, she was teased and bullied. Her mother was concerned Sophia would lose her enthusiasm for insects and wrote to the Entomological Society of Canada asking if anyone could help support her passion.

Well over a hundred scientists replied, sending photos of their insects, videos, paintings they did as children, letters, and more. Anything they could think of to support Sophia. The Society created #BugsR4Girls and one member - Morgan D. Jackson - analysed the responses, tracking more than 1000 uses of the hashtag in 4 months.

He contacted Sophia for her view and she wrote:
“It felt good to have so many people support me, and it was cool to see other girls and grown-ups studying bugs. It made me feel like I could do it too, and I definitely, definitely, definitely want to study bugs when I grow up, probably grasshoppers… My mom says I’m back to being my funny old self with my confidence after seeing all the girls who like bugs. And now I have a microscope somebody sent to me, and when I bring it to school, the kids in my school, whenever they find a bug they come and tell me and say “Sophia, Sophia, we found a bug!”

This is enough to make her a junior author on the article, which in turn makes Sophia Spencer the youngest named authoring individual on a scientific paper. Ever.

Further, the article attracted an opinion piece in the same journal, gaining the highest score ever achieved in that publication on a ranking of attention from mainstream popular science and social media.

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I’m fucking nicking that and sharing it. :sunglasses::+1:

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Crows are fucking brilliant birds. Lovely story, thank you for finding it and sharing it here! :sunglasses:

Wow. Awesome.