Time for the latest #ICYMI. As week five of lockdown comes to an end, we’ve pulled together a roundup of the stories we’ve found interesting.

#EarthDay

2020 marks the 50th year of Earth Day. Given the obvious restrictions, organisers took this year’s event online (rather than hold physical events). The aim is to fill the digital landscape with global conversations, calls to action, performances and video teach-ins. Anyone interested in supporting and amplifying the event on their own social channels could download a Google Doc with access to graphics, suggested social posts and info about an online conference to be livestreamed. We love the way the organisers looked to mobilise the world. Much has been discussed around how the Covid-19 lockdown has contributed to a reduction in carbon emissions, but there is still a lot of work to do and that’s why we were pleased to see #EarthDay in the top three trending topics on Twitter.

Standing out in a crowd

Our resident techie, Kirsten went full on geek after reading about a social distancing detector from Landing AI. The technology identifies when people move too close to one another and has been designed for use in workplaces such as offices or warehouse floors. We love when technology is created for good, with the hope that this tool could keep communities and employees safe. As with any monitoring technology, companies interested in rolling this out would need to have consent from staff, and there is a lot of background work to match the app against security footage in real-world dimensions. It will be interesting to see if we’ll see more AI apps come to the market as we move through (and eventually) out of lockdown. Read more here.

Howdy partner

The National Cowboy Museum in Oklahoma City has turned to social media during lockdown. But rather than sharing just facts about the history of cowboys, they’ve handed the social reigns over to its Head of Security, Tim, looking after the museum along with his team. From keeping an eye on the museum’s Toy Story exhibit to see if Woody and Jessie come to life when no one is looking to sharing facts about some of the other installations whilst enjoying his morning coffee, Tim is winning at Twitter right now. Pony up and follow #HashtagTheCowboy / @ncwhm to bring a little cheer to your day as well as ponder the question — “If I drink coffee and no one is around to see it, did it happen?”

We’ll be back next week with more #ICYMI. As ever, until then…stay safe.