157: Hickory, Dickory, Dock
This is the members only edition of Future Crunch, a weekly roundup of good news, mindblowing science, and the best bits of the internet (not necessarily in that order). One third of your subscription fee goes to charity.
Good news you probably didn't hear about
The WHO just published new data on global access to cooking fuels. In 1990, 53% of the global population used wood, charcoal, kerosene or dung. By last year, that proportion dropped to 36%. In actual numbers, that means that in a single human generation, an extra 2.48 billion people are now cooking with electricity or clean stoves.
India just completed its fifth National Family Health Survey, and hidden deep inside the impenetrable PDFs is some truly extraordinary data (keep in mind this is a country of 1.38 billion people). Between 2015 and 2020:
- The proportion of women with ten or more years of education increased from 35.7% to 41%.
- Contraceptive use increased from 54% to 67%.
- Teen pregnancy declined from 51 to 43 per 1,000 women.
- The neonatal mortality rate declined from 29.5 to 24.9 per 1,000 live births.
- Under-five mortality rate declined from 49.7 to 41.9 per 1,000 live births.
- The fertility rate decreased from 2.2 to 2.0, and is now below replacement levels in 23 of India's 28 states.
- Access to improved sanitation skyrocketed from 48.5% to 70.2%.
- Access to electricity increased from 88% to 96.8%.
- Households using clean fuel or electricity for cooking increased from 43.8% to 58.6%
- Households with at least one person covered on a health insurance scheme increased from 28.7% to 41%.
Seems like an appropriate place to leave this tweet:
New legislation in Pakistan has significantly strengthened protections for women in the workplace. The law expands the definition of harassment to include “discrimination on the basis of gender, which may or may not be sexual in nature” and will protect domestic workers and students, as neither group were covered previously by law. HRW
A landmark court ruling in India will give sex workers identity documents, allowing them to access social welfare, bank accounts and voting. Although prostitution is legal, the lack of identification papers within the sex industry has left many workers vulnerable to trafficking and poverty. The reform comes after a decade of petitioning by a collective of sex workers in Kolkata. NYT
Thailand is on track to decriminalize marijuana, with a proposal to remove the plant from the list of controlled drugs. Currently, the plant is a category-5 narcotic drug and possession can lead to hefty fines and up to 15 years jailtime. Medical cannabis is already legal and can be used in foods and cosmetics. SCMP
Saving the world is cheaper than ruining it
The 27 countries of the European Union installed 25.9 GW of new solar capacity last year, an increase of 34% over 2020. That makes 2021 the best year for solar in Europe's history. All EU states are now on track to reach their 2030 solar goals, with Latvia and Estonia already across the line, and Poland, Ireland, and Sweden expected to reach their targets next year. Yale360
Germany is ramping up its decarbonisation plans. The new government of Europe's powerhouse economy is proposing 2% of total land area for wind power, will oblige all new commercial buildings to install solar, is targeting 50% of all building heating to be carbon neutral by 2030, and aims to cover 80% of total power demand with renewables by that date. PV Magazine
China built more offshore wind capacity in 2021 than the rest of the world managed in the last five years put together. Just to put that in context, the UK previously had the most offshore wind, with 10GW. China has just built 1.5x that in a single year, and twice as much as the IEA forecast in… December 2021. CCTV
Israel and Jordan have put aside their former differences, with a radical barter agreement to combat the impacts of climate change. Water-scarce Jordan will provide about 600 MW of solar-generated electricity to Israel in exchange for 200 million cubic meters of desalinated water. Environmentally and politically, the agreement is "good reason for cautious optimism." DW
It's a win-win situation and a model for out-of-the-box thinking on climate security.
Gidon Bromberg, co-founder EcoPeace Middle East
In the home of cheap fracked gas, gas is proving to be not so cheap after all. Clean energy in the United States is now definitively less expensive - which is why gas powered generation is being replaced by wind and solar. Solar capacity is now 20 times greater in the US than it was in 2011, and wind capacity has more than doubled. Economics, not ideology, is driving the transition. EIA
First Norway, now Switzerland. Last year, an electric car sold more units in the country than any other car (gasoline, diesel, hybrid, etc.). The Tesla Model 3 didn’t just rule all electric sales, but all types of cars. Comparing November 2021 to November 2020, new car registrations for electric vehicles grew by +63%. Clean Technica
Tesla’s factory in California is now the most productive auto plant in North America. Last year it produced an average of 8,550 cars a week, more than Toyota's juggernaut in Kentucky (8,427 cars a week), BMW's Spartanburg hub in South Carolina (8,343) or Ford's iconic truck plant in Michigan (5,564). Bloomberg
Also... 1,200 km on a single charge? Better move those goalposts, range anxiety-ists.
The only home we've ever known
Portugal has created Europe's largest marine reserve to protect 2,677 km2 around the Selvagens Islands, an archipelago in the North Atlantic. Europe has lagged behind the rest of the world in marine protection, and it’s hoped Portugal’s decision will prompt other countries to take action. Tree Hugger
The Biden administration has committed over $1 billion to the restoration of Florida’s Everglades. The mammoth project will increase protection for hundreds of endangered plant and animal species and maintain the crucial source of drinking water for Florida’s 8 million residents. Miami Herald
The world’s largest oyster restoration has been achieved on the Piankatank and Great Wicomico rivers in Virginia with over 1,000 acres improving water quality and habitat for other wildlife. The initiative is part of the 2014 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement which aimed to fully restore oyster populations in the bay's tributaries by 2025. So far, four of the six targeted tributaries have met their restoration goals. Free Lance Star
We’re recognizing that natural resources are infrastructure, and they need to be taken care of just like we would roads or buildings.
Ralph Northam, Governor of Virginia
Indigenous farming practices are starting to gain serious momentum across western America. In Arizona, there were 291 farms with a Native American farm operator in 2002; today that number has expanded to more than 11,729 farms. Indigenous practices focus on “trying to reconnect with place by developing sustainable, organic produce for community members.” Civil Eats
The EU has taken its first steps towards banning live animal exports, and enforcing stricter rules to ensure humane transportation for slaughter, fattening or breeding. New rules will target overcrowding, food and water supplies and cap journey times at eight hours for domestic animals, and four hours for pregnant ones. World Animal News
A forestry company in Finland is at the helm of a huge new rewilding project to restore ecosystems impacted by decades of logging. Although 77% of Finland is forested, commercial plantations have destroyed almost all of the old growth. The restoration work will involve nine river basins and focus on recreating old spawning grounds for fish and rebuilding sustainable ecosystems. Guardian
People are starting to understand that rivers and clean waters are like the heart and lungs of the country. Finland doesn’t really have anything else other than nature.
Arttu Kuiri, Program Lead
Africa’s Great Green Wall is the world’s most ambitious reforestation project, with funding to match. 15 years in, has the project lived up to its hype? In Niger at least, the answer is yes. As of 2020, nearly 400,000 ha of desert has been restored, with the improved soil supporting an abundance of crops. Hundreds of communities are now working together to create economic opportunities from their thriving landscape. NYT
Indistinguishable from magic
A major milestone has just been reached in quantum computing. Three separate teams from Australia, the Netherlands and Japan have all achieved over 99% accuracy for silicon-based quantum computing. That means silicon, along with superconductivity and ion traps, is now a serious candidate for creating large-scale quantum computers. Science Alert
Swiss roboticists have managed to get a quadrapedal robot to hike up a 1,098 m mountain in 31 minutes, about four minutes faster than average human hiker. What's so impressive is the robot's ability to combine visual perception with proprioception – a sense of touch – based on leg contact, allowing it to tackle rough terrain more efficiently and without falls or missteps. ETH
Engineers from Siemens and Ohio State University have invented a new kind of MRI machine that uses a lower magnetic field, but achieves the same resolution. That means less radiation exposure, access for patients with implanted medical devices, and a whole new way of imaging hearts and lungs. Laboratory Equipment
This is an important advancement for patients with cystic fibrosis, pulmonary hypertension, heart failure, COVID-19 and any other disease where we’re trying to understand shortness of breath and evaluate both the heart and lungs.
Orlando Simonetti, OSU
Harvard and Broad Institute scientists have just launched a new generation of molecular carriers for delivering gene-editing technologies. Called engineered virus-like particles (eVLPs), they can deliver CRISPR and base editing to a myriad of organs with minimal side effects. Compared to previous methods, the eVLPs are far more efficient at landing on target, releasing their cargo, and editing cells. GEN
A super simple solution - putting LED lights on gillnets in Mexico - just achieved incredible results. Lighted gillnets reduced total bycatch by 63%, which included a 95% reduction in sharks, skates and rays, 81% reduction in squid, and a 48% reduction in unwanted finfish. Best of all, it was a win-win; making life easier for fishers by reducing the amount of time untangling bycatch in their nets. Forbes
Information superhighway
Super interesting piece on why English is such a strange language. Includes tidbits on why we don't have genders, why we think big words are fancy, the weirdness of dangling prepositions and why '‘Hickory, dickory, dock’ isn't a nonsensical phrase or an Agatha Christie novel, but actually part of the counting system in Celtic. Aeon
This is one of the coolest things we've read in a long time. Jane Metcalfe and her excellent team at NEO Life have a list of what to expect from the 'neobiological revolution' this year, and wow. Large-scale genome synthesis, genetic counselling, AI-led drug discovery, ageing clocks, light, sound, and electrical neuromodulation, and synthetic biology for carbon removal, among others.
Noooo... say it ain't so! Apparently the kids don't think GIFs are cool any more. "The 22-year-old software engineer from New York felt a flood of emotions at discovering, in 2018, what they now describe as 'a relic.' They were amused; they were embarrassed; it was a bit like finding an old diary. The folder was entitled “Reaction GIFS”. Vice
Johann Hari's new book, Stolen Focus, is great. What sets it apart from the usual hand-wringing about technology's effect on our attention is its reframing of the problem as systemic (rather than personal) and a really eye-opening chapter on children's education near the end. Whew. Here's a taste.
On a similar theme, Joe Pinsker thinks it might be a good idea if we all just stopped being so available. His argument is that it's not technology in and of itself that's stressful—it's people’s expectations. Maybe its time to stop apologising for our delays, and stop expecting it from others too? Atlantic
This is going to feel ridiculously niche, especially for our American readers but - if you are a fan of rugby (the greatest contact sport in the world) then you need to subscribe right now to Squidge on Youtube. His depth of analysis and knowledge of the sport makes the television pundits look like schoolchildren commentating on a game of tag.
With the Six Nations coming up, you have no excuse. By way of introduction, here's his team of the year for 2021.
Humankind
The Scholarship
Meet Verda Tetteh, a 17 year old high-school student from Massachusetts, who turned down a $40k scholarship, insisting her school give the money to a student in greater need.
Vedha moved from Ghana to America at 8 years old. Despite knowing little English, she was determined to excel at school and quickly became a straight-A student, taking extra classes and creating initiatives to ‘make the school a better place’.
No one was surprised when Vedha was awarded the ‘general excellence scholarship’ at her high school graduation. However, the audience were left stunned when, ten minutes after accepting the scholarship, Vedha approached the podium and announced a change of heart. “I would be so very grateful if administration would consider giving the … scholarship to someone who is going to community college.”
Vedha’s generosity was inspired by her mother Rosemary who enrolled in community college after arriving in America, to help her upskill into a better job so she could better support her four children. For years, Vedha watched her mother work two jobs, 80 hours a week, while attending college. At the age of 47 years old, Rosemary graduated with a bachelor’s degree in science, showing her daughter firsthand, the real value of education.
Today, Vedha is studying chemistry at Harvard University with plans to become a doctor. Her tuition, room and board are covered by other scholarships, and her old high school has redistributed the money she gave up to two students who will receive an annual donation of $5,000 over the next four years. Vedha now hopes to create another scholarship for immigrant students to help them reach their dreams of a college tuition.
"You don't have to have the world to be able to give anything, you know, the little you have, just think about others around you and how you can help."
That's it for this edition, hope you enjoyed it.
Shout out to subscriber John Rose, who brought our world crumbling down last week after emailing us with the news that giraffes, apparently, don't actually get fleas.
Also, we know we promised you a charity partner announcement but there's been a little delay as we work out the details, it should all be ready by the next week.
We'll see you then.
Much love,
Gus, Amy and the rest of the FC team