🌞 The wristband changing schools

I strongly advise playing the song of the week (below) out loud while reading this newsletter. I promise it’ll make for a great Sunday morning!

We're starting off strong with an incredible innovation by three teenagers in India.

Dhruv, Mithran, and Mridul, aged 16, have created a first-of-its-kind electricity-free refrigeration unit for transporting medical supplies in remote areas.

According to the teenagers, “the COVID pandemic served as a reminder of the lack of electricity availability in rural areas; we've seen, firsthand, the problems with transporting vaccines, food and essential supplies to these locations”.

They’ve taken matters into their own hands by designing the ‘Thermavault’, which uses ‘salt-based endothermic reactions’ to create an electricity-free fridge.

The creation is solving a multitude of challenges, including plastic waste, energy inequality, and inefficient cooling (especially for vaccines).

The group have been awarded the Earth Prize 2025 for their powerful creation. If that’s what they’ve achieved by 16, I can’t wait to see the incredible contribution they’ll make to the field throughout their lives!

You’re looking at a photo of a woman walking through tulips in Amsterdam. The colours!

This is a story about something that is yet to happen, but I figured any Sydneysiders looking for a furry acquaintance during lunch next week might want to know about it.

On Wednesday 30 April, Guide Dogs NSW/ACT will be taking over Martin Place with lots of lab-radorable puppies for International Guide Dogs Day. Sydneysiders will have the opportunity to pet puppies, watch Guide Dog training demonstrations, and learn more about these incredible dogs from the Guide Dogs team.

I have it on good authority that there will also be a very special guest this year - Gulliver, the beloved and iconic 6-foot Labrador mascot, will be joining the puppy pop-up in the city!

If anyone pops out on their lunch break to meet the dogs, I’d love to know! Send me pictures!

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In case you missed it, there were some big records broken in the world of women’s sport this week.

First, Paralympic gold medallist Alexa Leary broke a world record in the S9 100m swim at the Australian Open Championships. Leary swam a time of 0:59:22 in the heats, breaking her own world record set at the Paris Paralympics last year. Despite swimming a slightly slower race in the final, she still took out the gold. Following the final, Leary said she had been “so confident” about the race, following “hard work” after the Paris Games.

Fast forward to later in the week, and Australian tennis player Maya Joint broke a record previously held by Ash Barty when she became the youngest Aussie woman to win a match at a WTA1000 tournament (the Madrid Open).

Pro tennis tournaments are named after the points awarded to the winner in the world rankings system (in this case, 1000 points are up for grabs).

Joint was 19 years and 5 days old when she won, while Barty was almost 21. The win, which came in the first round of the Madrid Open, is Joint’s first victory at this level. She’s currently ranked 78th, up from 269th this time last year.

For this week’s community good news, I wanted to highlight an initiative that the mum of one of TDA’s journalists, Belle, is leading.

‘You Can Sit With Me’ is an inclusive, evidence-based, peer-led program designed to spread kindness and prevent bullying. The idea is that children wear a highly visible yellow wristband that says ‘You Can Sit With Me’ and invite children to join them to play or learn. These children are guided on what to do and say if someone comes to sit with them by asking, “Are you ok?”

The kids are not required to offer advice or intervene in the problem, rather offering a safe place to sit and seeking help from a teacher or adult if needed.

Students at over 950 Australian schools wear the message.

In less than a week, Australia will be heading to the polls to decide the next government.

In the lead-up, we've asked you what questions you still want answered about how Australia's electoral process works. Like, what actually is a hung parliament? And what happens if the leader of the winning party does not win their own seat?

We answer all your questions in today's podcast.

This podcast was produced in partnership with the Australian Electoral Commission, Canberra.