Five Things Going Right: August 24, 2026

Five real advances in science, medicine, technology, and the environment, each verified against the original reporting. In this episode: Smoking and vaping rates among U.S. youth ages 11-18 reached historic lows in 2025, with e-cigarette use; Nearly 1 in 5 beginning teachers in North Carolina previously worked as teaching assistants, and these former; An abandoned farm field in Norfolk doubled its plant diversity and developed thousands of orchids naturally; Four minutes of daily strength training can quadruple fitness improvements in older adults; Researchers discovered the first marbled murrelet nest recorded on Haida Gwaii in more than 30 years (the. Stan Berteloot is a French-American journalist, marketing strategist, and AI expert based in Princeton, New Jersey. A University of Maryland journalism graduate, he navigates the intersection of storytelling, technology, and culture. As Head of Strategy and CTO at Nytro Marketing, he pioneered AI-driven content creation, launching the AI in Marketing podcast. He also hosts Back in America, a podcast exploring American identity through in-depth conversations on race, misinformation, and AI ethics. Start your VoiceStream free trial today! 📚 Sources: https://www.goodgoodgood.co/articles/us-teens-smoking-rates-historic-low https://phys.org/news/2026-08-overlooked-teacher-pipeline.html https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/08/260822015208.htm https://scitechdaily.com/just-4-minutes-of-daily-strength-training-can-quadruple-fitness-in-older-adults/ https://phys.org/news/2026-08-haida-gwaii-marbled-murrelet-years.html