Hi friend,

We’ll get right into it.

Based off the poll from last issue, you love your resources and fact snippets.

This week, we’re giving you 3 pretty interesting facts we found, as well as a really cool resource.

🔎 For the fact lovers:

• 🧙‍♀️ The Wizard of Oz (1939) had very hazardous production methods. Apart from the snow being asbestos, the Tin Man’s face was painted with pure aluminium dust, and the Wicked Witch’s makeup was made from oxidised copper (which can accelerate Alzheimer’s).

• 🧪 Nobody knows the meaning of the letter ‘p’ in the pH scale because the inventor never explained to anyone what it stood for.

• 🚀 The Soviet space probe Phobos 2, designed to explore Mars’ moons, failed because 2 of its 3 computers died. Because it used a system where the computers voted on any decision, the 1 healthy computer was unable to outvote 2 dead computers.

Elon Musk blinds half of San Francisco

Twitter’s actual rebrand has already been done to death at this point, so we’ll pass commenting on that one unless it somehow gets worse. Instead, we’ll cover the disastrous scenes happening over at its headquarters. They’ve put up a new ‘X’ sign on the roof that’s so bright, it’s blinding the neighbours. We wonder how much it’ll bump the rent down.

Know much about design thinking? Canva’s got some great resources on its site, and this design inspiration tool tells you everything you need to know about design thinking and how you can use it to solve your team’s problems.

We don’t cover product design that often in nineteen eighty four, but this one we just had to include:

You might have already seen the big red ‘Astro Boy’ boots by MSCHF, but the newest boot by the art collective comes from its new collaboration with Crocs, and gives the original design a new spin. We personally can’t think of anything better to wear on your feet than a big plastic block of Swiss cheese.

OVO (the energy company, not Drake’s music label) has recently had its brand strategy reimagined by Wolff Olins. In light of the climate crisis and current economic conditions, OVO is looking to find ‘a better way to do energy’ and help customers reduce their carbon impact.

Greece fights back against wildfires

In a spot of good news this week, the wildfires in Greece are currently under control, but strong winds are still a threat. The three biggest wildfires no longer have an active front, and scattered fire pockets are being extinguished. This comes after two weeks of wildfires burning 124,000 acres of vegetation and forcing 20,000 people to flee Rhodes.

The saddest part about this is that Greek officials have stated most of the 667 fires were caused by human hands. Whether it’s down to criminal negligence or intent, blazes had broken out in different points in close proximity, suggesting the involvement of arsonists spreading the flames further.

The greatest firefighting heroes could actually be wild horses. Ecologists believe a new herd of Przewalski’s horses introduced to the Iberian Highlands by Rewilding Spain could be the start of some natural wildfire mitigation measures, with a boost to biodiversity sprinkled on top.

With all the ongoing heatwaves, new findings suggest the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (Amoc) could collapse in the next few decades. These Atlantic currents keep Europe’s climate stable, and once gone, could drive European weather to even greater extremes.

Is anyone out there still blogging?

Promoting yourself online can be done in tons of different ways. Just look outside your window and there’s everything from LinkedIn and TikTok to the brand-new Threads platform, but where does traditional blogging come into play? Is there still a medium for it? The good news is that blogging is going to be very relevant in 2023.

‘Know your enemy’ as Rage Against the Machine would say; but instead of going against the government, it’s time to stick it to your competitors. The competitive landscape can be a tricky place to navigate, but getting your research done right can make all the difference.

IKEA have merged 3 things on the minds of Gen Z; TikTok, anime, and going off to uni. In this brand new series, IKEA aim to help students make the most of their small spaces and find joy in even the simplest of moments. To be honest, we probably all need a bit of that.

What’s brewing in the sustainability space?

Together with Small99, we created the Sustainability Events Calendar last year to provide a one-stop-shop for finding any and all sustainability events being run all over Europe, big or small.

To make it easier to hear about what's out there, we're kicking things up a notch over on the Sustainability Events Calendar LinkedIn page with regular updates and special showcases on upcoming events.

If sustainability events are your cup of tea, make sure to follow the page!

Each issue of nineteen eighty four, we feature a different Certified B Corporation, to celebrate the brands which are working hard to create a better business world. To learn more about B Corps, click here.

Our featured B Corp this week is…

Bemuse

Coming out of this month’s run of new certified B Corps is Bemuse.

By putting their own modern spin on it and supporting honey-makers worldwide, Bemuse are taking mead (the world’s oldest alcoholic drink) and making it non-alcoholic, low calorie, sparkling, and still super tasty.