Adam Clare

Collision 2023 Day 1

I’m at Collision conference today in Toronto looking for some cool new good things to share. I’ll update this post as I find stuff.

A record-breaking 30 percent of startups this year at Collision are women-founded.

The first company that’s a good one is Unwrapit. They want gift giving to be more about experiences tHan physical artifacts.

We believe that giving gifts and making a positive impact can be one and the same. That reaching out, saying thank you, and providing an engaging and branded experience can be seamless. That receiving corporate gifts from a client, your employer, or at an event, doesn’t have to feel corporate at all.

Smart Cocoon sets to optimize HVAC in your house be utilizing some tiny fans. They’ve created a smart fan system that boosts the airflow from your furnace to the whole house.

GoParity funds good projects by using the power of the crowd. Each project must be related to one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. They tell me they have funded some solar projects in Portugal among others. Check it out!

Muuvment helps corporations engage their workers in making a meaningful impact on the planet. The system relies on self reporting from employees to see a company wide impact. By celebrating the good work everyone in the company keeping their employees engaged.

Homestozero are on a mission to get 10.5 homes in Canada to net zero as quickly as possible. They’re a service that helps homeowners understand the current state of their home and gives personalized advice on to get to gas zero.

Earthnet connects AI with experts to help craft projects from idea to impact around climate action projects. What’s more the site will help connect projects with potential finders.

Sponge Microgrids helps small renewable producers stay active and live. They use a suite of tools to help micro grid operators predict and control energy production. This may sound boring but is crucial to moving to a fully renewable energy grid.

Lastly, Collision needs more bike parking for all the eco conscious attendees.

Speed Cameras = Safer Streets

small car
I live in a city where the police stopped enforcing traffic laws, so we’ve seen increased harm done by car drivers on people outside of cars. When the laws of the road aren’t enforced then drivers will break them – and more! So to make our streets safer politicians have turned to cameras.

Speed cameras automatically take a photo of a speeding car’s licence plate and send a fine to the owner. It’s a good simple system which generates revenue for cities while also encouraging drivers to not break the law and endanger their fellow citizens.

A systematic review published by the Cochrane Library in 2010 analyzed 35 separate studies from around the world and found average speeds in the vicinity of ASE cameras dropped by up to 15 per cent.

In some places, the proportion of motorists exceeding the posted speed limit declined by as much as 70 per cent, although most jurisdictions reported a reduction in the 10 to 35 per cent range.

The review also found a general reduction in collisions near speed cameras, with most jurisdictions reporting a drop of 14 to 25 per cent. There was a corresponding reduction in injuries and deaths.

Multiple Sclerosis Nerve Damage Repaired by Antihistamine

Just released research findings from the University of California San Francisco found that nerve damage in people suffering from multiple sclerosis can be repaired by an over the counter antihistamine. MS damages nerves by removing a protective sheath around nerves which typically can’t be fixed, this new research may provide new methods to help those nerves. The antihistamine isn’t 100% effective and won’t cure MS but it does help those dealing with the disease. The more this treatment is understood the more options we have to help those with MS.

Now, researchers from the University of California San Francisco have identified an over-the-counter antihistamine called clemastine that can reverse damage to the myelin sheath and, what’s more, they’ve identified a biomarker that can measure the drug’s effectiveness.

It all hinges on something called the “myelin water fraction” or MWF. Water that is trapped between the layers of myelin that wrap around nerves in the brain can’t move as freely as water that floats between brain cells. The MWF measures the ratio of myelin water to the brain tissue’s total water content and indicates myelin integrity.

The researchers examined 50 patients with MS enrolled in the ReBUILD trial, who were divided into two groups: the first received clemastine for the first three months of the study, and the second received it only in months three to five and were given a placebo to start. Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), they measured the MWF in the patients’ corpus callosum, the thick bundle of nerve fibers connecting the brain’s left and right sides that is dense with myelin.

Accurately Capturing the Social Cost of Carbon

When policy makers think about climate change they sometimes take into consideration the whole impact of carbon regulation and reduction. The commonly held myth is that reducing carbon emissions will negatively impact the economy, now we have better numbers to help people no longer fall into believing that myth. Indeed, when the true cost of carbon is taken into consideration it’s clear that the worst carbon emitters ought to be charged tons more.

He said this year it’s even higher, at $261 per tonne of emissions, and by 2030 it will rise to $294.

“Pause for a moment to understand what this signifies,” Guilbeault said.

“Every tonne of carbon we reduce this year saves society as a whole $261 — and we are talking in terms of cutting megatonnes: millions of tonnes.”

Thanks to Delaney!

Rural and Urban Areas Have Less Depression

Where you live matters in almost every way imaginable, and there’s now more evidence that your location impacts your mental health. We now know that what has been colloquially known is now provably true: rates of depression are higher in suburban communities than elsewhere. Of course, you’re probably thinking that the rural lifestyle is that one that provides the best mental health, but what you probably don’t realize that urban living is also really good for you. So if you’re living in an in between sub-urban and sub-rural area and not feeling great than maybe you should move out the country or in to the city.

We think the relative higher risks of depression found in sprawling, low-rise suburbs may be partly down to long car commutes, less public open space and not high enough resident density to enable many local commercial places where people can gather together, such as shops, cafes and restaurants. But of course, there may be many other factors, too.

This doesn’t mean there aren’t potential benefits to living in the suburbs. Some people may in fact prefer privacy, silence and having their own garden.

We hope that this study can be used as a basis for urban planning. The study provides no support for the continued expansion of car-dependent, suburban single-family housing areas if planners want to mitigate mental health issues and climate change.