Save the pandas. Save the polar bears. Save the bald eagles. Some threatened animals will inevitably receive more press than others, but what’s shocking is the lack of dialogue surrounding the disappearance of 970 million monarch butterflies since 1990, an alarming statistic according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
While the causes of the butterflies’ disappearance is unclear, some suspect that it’s due to farmers and homeowners spraying herbicides on milkweed plants, which are crucial to monarch butterflies and serve as their food source and home. To combat and reverse the decline of the lifelines of the monarch butterflies, the Fish and Wildlife Service have started a partnership with the National Wildlife Federation and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation in order to rapidly grow milkweed and provide new homes and food sources for the remaining monarch butterflies.
Monarch butterflies used to flutter throughout the United States by the billions. Only about 30 million remain, and they alone complete the trek each spring from Mexico to Canada, which takes six generations of the insect to make the journey. Afterward, young monarchs, about the quarter of the weight of a dime, fly back to Canada.
Fish and Wildlife is also reviewing a petition to list monarch butterflies as an endangered species which would provide them with special protections, filed by the Center for Biological Diversity. The agency is looking into ways to restore the monarch population. So far, the agency has provided $2 million for on-the-ground conservation projects and will raise awareness of the need for milkweed by providing seeds to anyone who is willing to plant it, as well as planting the seeds in open spaces. Another $1.2 million will be used by the foundation as seed money to create a larger fundraising match from private organizations and other donors, according to the Washington Post.
Collin O’Mara, president of the National Wildlife Federation, told the Washington Post that momentum to restore the monarch population is building. According to O’Mara, Charlotte and St. Louis are two cities that declared themselves as sanctuaries for monarchs.
While the extinction of certain butterfly species is not unheard of, the disappearance of the monarch butterflies should still be a cause for concern, especially when coupled with the collapse of other pollinators, such as wasps, beetles, and honeybees. The ramifications of the Butterfly Effect may be more severe in the coming years if the monarch butterflies become extinct.
We tend to associate stickers with childhood. As kids, we put them all over our rooms, furniture, books and notebooks, and wherever else our little hands could stick them. Yet, you have probably seen stickers being used and loved by adults as much, if not more, than kids. They can be found on water bottles, laptops, car bumpers, journals, and many other surfaces. You may even know an adult who uses a sticker chart like an elementary school kid does to keep track of their daily tasks. So, what gives?
Why do adults love stickers? It turns out that there is psychology behind why many adults still love to stick stickers everywhere. Psychology professionals have reached out to GOOD to share some of the reasons why adult brains benefit from having and using stickers.
Much like with children, many adults turn to stickers as an easy way to stay motivated to commit to a task or achieve a goal. While youngsters turn to sticker charts for reading goals or eating vegetables, adults can use them to motivate themselves to hit the gym or keep up with their budget. It may sound like an innocuous award, but that’s all it needs to be.
“Small simple tokens or rewards like stickers often cause an instant dopamine rush that leaves us feeling a sense of joy or happiness even if it might be small or fleeting,” said psychology professor and licensed therapist Jillian Amodio.
“In my work as a psychologist, I often encourage clients to use sticker charts, simple grids where you put stickers up when you complete a task,” said registered psychologist Rod Mitchell. “I’ve had many clients who tried positive self-talk, only to find it slid off. Stickers worked for them.”
It may sound immature on the surface, but what worked to establish good behaviors or habits as a kid can sometimes be just as effective for a grown-up.
“I had one client who was very resistant to the idea, viewing it as childish,” Mitchell added. “He came back the following week and sheepishly told me that the sticker chart had worked like a charm.”
Progress markers
“In addition to creating a sense of accomplishment, seeing a sticker placed on a calendar, chart, or planner after achieving a goal can create a visual history of success,” said Dr. Lori Bohn, medical director at Voyager Recovery Center. “This history can motivate an individual to continue to work towards additional goals.”
So the benefit of sticker charts isn’t just the dopamine rush, but encouragement. A person can look back at the progress they made, and any “failure” they see becomes an anomaly. It’s why many folks have created sticker charts for things as basic as eating healthy foods to more complex struggles like sobriety.
“The stickers on the chart serve as small badges of who you are and what you did,” said Mitchell. “A client I had who was struggling to make time for his kids now looks back on a chart full of stickers and knows that he’s become the family man he wanted to be.”
An easy form of expression
Placing a sticker on a laptop or water bottle you use daily also allows us to express ourselves. That expression can be as insightful as a political message or as simple as “I like SpongeBob.” It can communicate to others what you’re all about without even speaking a word.
“Stickers appeal to adults because they often offer an opportunity for self expression and trigger a sense of nostalgia,” said Amodio. “They can also serve social purposes when they speak to people who share similar interests, values, or devotion to a cause.”
The same logic applies to why many people use digital stickers and emojis when texting or posting on social media.
Psychologically instill civic duty
So how powerful are stickers? According to extensive research, very. One sticker standout is they get people to the polls. The “I Voted” sticker folks receive after they vote is a great motivator. They allow folks to feel that dopamine hit after voting, while advertising to others to vote. Stickers can be a reward for voters, a reminder to those who plan on submitting their ballot, or provide FOMO (fear of missing out) to those who don’t vote.
“It tells other individuals what the person did (voted), what the person values (voting), and what type of individual they perceive themselves to be (a voter),” said Dr. Bohn. “Social psychologists have shown that people are heavily influenced by social norms. In many cases, people rely on other people to help them understand if their behavior is acceptable or not.”
It may feel like mental manipulation to get people to vote (because it is) but it’s important to note that the sticker doesn’t endorse any particular bill or candidate. It just endorses participation.
Affordable artwork
“Stickers are also visually appealing which creates a pleasurable response in the brain as well,” said Amodio.
Stickers are used by adults because they like how they look. They’re an inexpensive and convenient form of artwork to display. They can easily be put in a book, on a wall, or most other surfaces. They don’t take too much space and are cheaper than paintings, sculptures, and other artwork.
Many independent artists have turned their work into stickers. It’s a way to keep making a living while also making it affordable for people to purchase their art. Sticker art also benefits the brains of the artists and their supporters alike. It’s just like any other art piece you can display.
There are many valid and beneficial reasons why grown adults happily use stickers. The act as a boost, a motivator, and a way to express yourself in one. If you’re already a fan, keep on stickin’.
On December 2, 2025, 18-year-old Kaitlyn Jeffrey was caught in a fire at the Pi Kappa Alpha frat house at Western University in Canada. The fire was caused after rubbing alcohol had been thrown onto a lit torch. Kaitlyn was one of the five people rushed to the hospital for injuries. She suffered serious burns after her face and hair had been set ablaze.
A new treatment
Usually, treatment for such burns would require a skin graft, but the burn unit at Hamilton Health Services wanted to try something different. While skin grafting is helpful, the end result isn’t always ideal. Skin grafting can be a slow process that ends with scarring and often a patch-like appearance on the patient.
“My vision for Kaitlin was to avoid skin graft surgery to her face and neck at any cost,” said Dr. Marc Jeschke, medical director of the hospital’s regional burn program and vice-president of research and innovation at HHS. “You can do the best graft on the planet, but you won’t return the skin to normal.”
With Kaitlyn’s and her family’s permission, Dr. Jeschke sent an urgent application to Health Canada for a new type of treatment. After Health Canada approved, the doctors proceeded to give Kaitlyn an exosome treatment for her facial burns. The results were a rousing success.
Exosomes, or extracellular vesicles (EcVs), are present in almost all cells, tissues, and body fluids. They’re tiny vesicles released naturally by nearly all types of cells, carrying proteins, lipids, and genetic material. They essentially carry these “packages” of material and send signals from one cell to another to regulate their behavior. They’re not only being tested for medical applications like this one, but are a part of a skin care trend as well. While exosomes had been studied for burn research, they haven’t been tested on humans before.
One trillion exosomes were collected and injected into Kaitlyn’s injured areas over the course of two treatments. This helped her cells coordinate in rapidly healing and repairing her facial tissue. The treatments also significantly reduced inflammation.
Astounding healing and new possibilities
After she had healed, Katilyn was amazed and grateful at the result.
“It’s honestly a miracle,” she said. “Being injured in the fire has also had a deep impact on my mental health, and it’s something I’m continuing to deal with. But having such good results, particularly to my face, is helping me move forward.”
Exosomes are still being researched for other potential medicinal applications. They are being tested to see how well they could modulate immune responses and deliver biomarkers. This could help combat cardiovascular disease, neurological disorders, and cancer among other ailments. Time and research will tell whether exosomes can help those patients like they helped Kaitlyn.
Photo credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images – Many U.S. apartments have individual heating and cooling systems that are less efficient than current technology.
People who rent their homes, or don’t have enough money to make major upgrades to their homes, have for many years been left out of a major shift in heating and cooling technology that can improve efficiency, save money and be better for the global climate: heat pumps.
Heating and cooling buildings consumes 35% of all the energy used in the United States each year. Many homes and businesses are converting their fossil fuel-powered heating and cooling systems to electric-powered heat pumps, which use electricity not to generate hot or cold air but to move heat into spaces needing warmth and out of spaces needing cooling.
Until recently, that process has required a significant amount of sizable and expensive equipment to be permanently installed in a building, which needs a professional contractor and can cost as much as US$10,000 just for the installation – in addition to the actual equipment. Often called mini-splits, these systems usually have a condenser outside the building that exchanges heat with the outdoor air and an evaporator inside that exchanges heat with the indoor air.
The New York City Housing Authority has been installing window-mounted heat pumps in apartments, like this one in Queens. AP Photo
But now window heat pumps are becoming available in the U.S. Much like a window air conditioner, these self-contained devices can be installed without professional help and plugged into a wall outlet. Unlike window air conditioners, though, they can provide heat as well as cooling. They cost much less than a permanent system – between $3,000and $4,000 – and can be moved to a new property if the owner relocates.
There aren’t many options commercially available yet, and those on the market can’t heat or cool very large spaces on their own. And they work less efficiently when heating homes in places with extremely cold outdoor temperatures. A few models are available on the market that are even cheaper, but they don’t have efficiency ratings, don’t work when outdoor temperatures are very cold, and are louder when running.
Heat pumps use a reversible refrigeration cycle and can provide similar heating and cooling as electric-powered space heaters, furnaces and baseboard heaters, while using less than half the electricity.
The most common heat pumps transfer heat between air indoors and outdoors, but other systems can exchange heat with the ground or with bodies of water, such as lakes.
Heat pumps’ capacities are defined by the amount of heat they can transfer in a particular period of time. A heat pump serving an entire home may need a capacity of 12,000 to 60,000 British thermal units (about 12,660 to 63,300 kilojoules) – but the window units’ capacities are much lower, getting up to only about 9,000 Btu (9,500 kJ).
Performance varies based on the conditions outdoors, where the unit is either sending excess heat to cool the indoors or gathering heat to warm the indoors. In cooling mode, heat pumps are rated by their seasonal energy efficiency ratio, a figure that indicates how much cooling is achieved per unit of electricity used. The corresponding measurement for heating is called heating seasonal performance factor. In general, the larger these numbers are, the better they will perform. The U.S. Department of Energy has established minimum standards for those figures.
While these units operate even when outdoor temperatures are -13 degrees Fahrenheit (-25 degrees Celsius), their heating output is reduced to almost half of its rated capacity, and their energy efficiency falls to one-third of its rated performance at that temperature.
In addition to their low cost compared to conventional split heat pumps, packaged window heat pumps meet heating and cooling needs with lower energy demands and costs. But each window unit serves just one room, while a more common split unit can serve multiple rooms.
Packaged window heat pumps are easy and inexpensive to install and offer all-in-one heating and cooling options for apartments and older homes, with higher energy efficiency performance than traditional systems. Their main limitations include their low capacities and reduced energy efficiency in extremely cold climates or conditions.
