227: Yo
Good news you probably didn't hear about
We're kicking things off with some amazing news from UNICEF, the world’s largest vaccine buyer. They've just signed a long-term agreement with the world's biggest vaccine manufacturer to supply the new R21 malaria vaccine through to 2028. They expect to start immunising kids in mid-2024. This is huge—half a million children die of malaria every year.
The European Commission, the European Investment Bank, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation just announced a $1.1 billion package for one final push on polio. The funds will cover polio vaccinations for nearly 370 million children annually and deliver vital health services to children, along with the vaccinations. 'We are about to wipe polio off the face of the Earth.' Reuters
Thanks to young people, Poland's democratic opposition has won a majority of seats in both chambers of the country’s parliament. Within the next two months, they should be able to form a new coalition government, bringing to an end the eight-year rule of the current illiberal, misogynist and populist government. 'Whoever I talk to, it’s relief and hope.' Politico
Millions of girls in Eastern and Southern Africa will gain greater access to education thanks to a newly-approved $832 million programme called EAGER. The first phase will directly support over two million girls in Mozambique and Madagascar to stay in or return to school, and future phases are expected in Burundi, Comoros, the DRC, Lesotho, Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
More encouraging news on education: government spending on education in low-income countries as a percentage of GDP rose from 3.2% in 2018 to 3.6% in 2021. While still below the international benchmark of 4%, for the first time ever, governments accounted for over half of all spending on education in these countries. World Bank
Over the last seven years, Kenya has trained over 1,200 nurses, with a big emphasis on midwifery and maternal and neonatal care. It's working. The most recent data show that under-five mortality in Kenya has more than halved, there's been a significant uptick in vaccinations, 98% of women now receive antenatal care, and 89% of births are attended by a skilled provider.
Also—from the same report—the prevalence of stunting in Kenya has decreased markedly since 1993, with the greatest decrease coming between 2008 and 2022, during which stunting levels fell from 35% to 18% of all children.
The island nation of Cabo Verde, located off the coast of West Africa, has embarked on an ambitious goal to eradicate extreme poverty by 2026. Their track record is good—the proportion of its population living in extreme poverty fell from 22.6% in 2015 to 11.1% in 2022 due to greater investment in social protection policies. World Bank
The folks over at Human Progress have got an excellent new dashboard that allows you to pull up all sorts of data, including stuff like this. As recently as 2000, just half of Sub-Saharan Africans had access to an improved water source (e.g., piped, well, rain, spring, or bottled water). By 2020, nearly 80% of sub-Saharan Africa had access, along with 94% of people worldwide.
Since 2015, global efforts to eliminate lymphatic filariasis—also known as elephantiasis—have made encouraging progress. Thanks to mass drug administration, the population of people requiring treatment in places where the disease is endemic has fallen from 1.426 billion in 2015 to 760 million people in 2022, a 53.3% reduction. WHO
In a landmark win for Japan’s LGBTQ+ community, a court in central Japan has ruled that it is unconstitutional to require a transgender person to undergo sterilisation surgery in order to change their legal gender. 'I want children to hang on to their hope. I want to see a society where sexual diversity is naturally accepted.' HRW
Core inflation in the United States is almost back down to pre-pandemic levels, having now fallen below 2% annualised for the first time since the lockdowns, and the US economy is now in a better place than the IMF was predicting back in 2019, before the pandemic.
There are a lot of people with very large microphones still talking about the US crime wave. Somebody should probably show them the latest data from the FBI. Homicides in 2022 were down 6.1%, and the murder rate is now below 2020 levels. The violent crime rate fell by 1.7% last year, reaching it's lowest level since 2014.
If it bleeds, it leads
The Pulitzer Prize is the oldest and most prestigious award in journalism, and these are the winners of its Non-Fiction category from the last decade. Four books on racial injustice, two on poverty, and one each on illness, fracking, terrorism, and mass extinction. Whew. While some of these topics do deserve more attention than they have historically received, it's not exactly balanced is it? There are two possible explanations: either it's been an unusually horrifying ten years, or else journalists are more likely to receive awards if they write about death, disaster, and division.
The only home we've ever known
Two weeks ago, Israel greenlit the 90 km2 Ramat Mazar Reserve in the Negev Desert. The area borders the existing Judean Desert Nature Reserve and is home to several species such as the Nubian ibex, dorcas gazelle, the desert tawny owl and Blanford’s fox. Times of Israel
A conservation group called Greater Yellowstone Coalition has purchased 1,598 acres of land on the boundary of Yellowstone National Park to save it from gold mining, removing the last viable mining threat in the area. The area is home to grizzly bears, bison, elk, mule deer, and bighorn sheep. NYT
A reforestation initiative in Xizang, China, is well under way to restore approximately 206,700 hectares of land in the mountains of Lhasa. Last year, 55,870 hectares of land were reforested, employing over 1.68 million people. Xizang has now established 47 nature reserves. Global Times
For the first time since dams were removed along the Elwha River in 2014, a local tribe has caught salmon. Coho have made the strongest recovery so far, with an estimated 6,821 returning to the river in 2022, the largest run in four years. The tribe’s fishery is part of an agreement that restricts fishing to 400 coho while restoring tribal history and culture. Seattle Times
It will be a great time to introduce our children to the river, and hopefully revive some of those basic ceremonies around it.
Wendy Sampson, Lower Elwha Klallam tribal member
Deforestation in Brazil continues to fall, despite severe drought. During September 629 km2 of forest was cleared, a 57% drop from the same month last year. Federal agencies have also removed illegal land grabbers from the Apyterewa and Trincheira Bacajá territories, with the goal of returning land rights to the 25,000 Indigenous people who live there.
A 'landmark moment for nature recovery' in the UK, with a new national reserve on the Lincolnshire coast. Spanning 30 kilometres of coastline, the area includes a rich variety of sand dunes, salt marshes, mudflats, and freshwater marshes that are breeding habitats for over-wintering birds, natterjack toads, and insects. BBC
After a long history of whale hunting, Azores, a Portuguese archipelago, is now being hailed as the 'gold standard for responsible whale watching.' The transition from whaling to watching has resulted in a thriving tourism industry with 20 whale watching companies operating across the islands, which are on the migration route for blue and fin whales. CNN
A decades-long breeding project to restore giant tortoises on Española in the Galapagos Islands has transformed the barren ecosystem into a savanna. In 2020, nearly 2,000 captive-bred tortoises were released, and the population blossomed to 3,000. Giant tortoises, like beavers, are ecological architects. 'As few as one or two tortoises per hectare is enough to trigger a shift in the landscape.' Hakai
A landmark food safety law in California will ban red dye No. 3, along with other harmful additives in consumer goods that have been linked to cancer and behavioural issues in children. Nearly 3,000 products use these additives, including Skittles, Nerds, protein shakes, and instant rice. Brands now have until 2027 to revise their recipes. CNN
Stockholm is planning to ban petrol and diesel cars in parts of the city starting in 2025. The proposed area spans 20 blocks, straddling the finance area and main shopping hub, and would only allow electric cars and some hybrid trucks. The proposal builds on the success of low-emissions zones in cities like London. Bloomberg
A few more home runs
The city of Pittsburgh has implemented a plastic bag ban for restaurants and grocery stores. A ten-year fishing ban in the Yangtze River has increased the population of finless porpoises by 23% to 1,249. In the Scottish Highlands, the world’s first public rewilding centre is giving people an opportunity to get hands-on with nature. The number of nesting seabirds on the island of Lundy in the Bristol Channel is at a 90-year high. More good news for birds! Seven birds on the Red List have been spotted at Dorset’s Wild Woodbury reserve, including the nightingale, greenfinch, and skylark. The new Pecan Spring Karst Preserve in Texas will protect over 485 hectares, providing a crucial habitat for endangered species like the golden-cheeked warbler, the Salado salamander, and the tricolored bat. When was the last time you checked in on the Ocean Cleanup? You should probably go have a look.
Saving the world is cheaper than ruining it
With little fanfare, the European Union has launched a huge climate experiment. On October 1st, it kicked off the initial phase of a continent-wide tax on carbon in imported goods. This marks the first time a carbon border tax has been tried at this scale anywhere in the world—and the rest of the world is paying close attention. Grist
Between 2010 and 2020, the cost of solar fell by around 15% each year, and installed capacity rose by 25% per year, causing and partly caused by these cost reductions. A new report now shows that if solar maintains this learning curve, it will soon become the dominant energy technology on Planet Earth. Nature
Solar might even be speeding up, if data from China are anything to go by. The year-on-year growth of manufacturing capacity in polysilicon, wafers, cells, and modules approached or exceeded 80% in July and August 2023, and cumulative production of solar cells exceeded 320 GW in the first eight months of 2023. PV Tech
And no... solar waste is not the problem. Even in the worst-case scenario, 35 years of cumulative solar panel waste would be dwarfed by the fossil fuel and other waste streams it would replace. The volume of coal ash is up to 300 times greater, plastic would be 75 times greater, and even just oily sludge waste would be up to five times worse. Clean Technica
For the first time, companies and governments are raising more money in debt markets for environmentally-friendly projects than for fossil fuels. Almost $350 billion was raised from green bond sales in the first half of this year, compared with $235 billion for fossil fuel financing. The ratio was $300 billion green to $315 billion for fossil fuels in the same period last year. Bloomberg
Two big fossil fuel divestment victories in the last few weeks. NYU, one of the US’s largest private universities, whose endowment totals over $5 billion, says it will finally ditch fossil fuels; and Danish pension fund AkademikerPension says it's exited its portfolio of oil and gas stocks worth US$520 million.
EnBW, one of the largest energy supply companies in Europe, with a customer base of around 5.5 million people, has promised that all future solar projects will be paired with battery storage. It's also exploring the possibility of making a similar pledge for all new wind farms and retrofitting existing wind farms with storage. Renew Economy
In 2012, the United Kingdom burned 64 million tonnes of coal. In 2022, it burned less than a tenth of that, 6.2 million tonnes. In 2023, coal usage has plummeted again, and the country remains on track to end coal-fired generation by October 2024. Carbon Brief
In the last year, $213 billion of investments in the manufacture and deployment of clean energy, clean vehicle, building electrification, and carbon management technologies have been announced in the United States. This is now the country's largest manufacturing drive since WW2. Most people have no idea this is happening.
No transition without transmission. In one of the most important—and least appreciated—climate and energy stories of the year, the Biden administration says it will provide $3.46 billion for the US electric grid, the largest investment to date in the least-sexy part of the energy system. The money will go to 58 different projects across 44 states. The Verge
A few months ago, mining giants Rio Tinto, BHP, and FMG announced within a couple of weeks of each other that they've all decided on using battery electric and catenary overhead electric for their heavy mining vehicles. No hydrogen fuel cells in sight. Clean Technica
Don't write off the legacy automakers yet. Volkswagen delivered 45% more EVs in the first nine months of this year compared to last year; BMW says Q3 sales of full EVs were up 79.6% year-on-year; and Mercedes just unveiled its all-electric, heavy duty eActros truck, with a range of over 500 km and capable of hauling a 22-ton payload.
More reasons to stop doom-scrolling
Why do so many intelligent people undersell the pace and dynamism of the renewable revolution? Because they're hanging on to these eight myths. The European Commission says that agrivoltaics on just 1% of farmland have the potential to meet all of Europe’s solar goals by 2030. One under-appreciated consequence of the Polish election is that the winning opposition parties all support wind and solar replacing coal by 2030. Iraq has awarded a staggering 7 GW of solar projects to boost solar power production to 10 GW by 2025. Cities all over America are beginning to transition their yellow school bus fleets to electric. Environment ministers in Europe just backed new targets that will cut emissions from new freight trucks by 45% by 2030. Scotland has switched on its Seagreen wind farm, which means the UK is now home to the world's five largest operational offshore windfarms.
Indistinguishable from magic
In August, when heavy rain hit parts of Chile, tens of thousands of people had to evacuate their homes. Many got a warningv days in advance, thanks to an AI-powered tool called Flood Hub that uses satellite imagery and digital models to simulate how rivers could flood, then combines that with weather forecasts, predicting flooding up to seven days in advance. FastCo
Regular readers will know how much we love nerding out on chipmaking. Chris Mims has a great deep dive on a little-known, yet crucial company which is working on sculpting chips at the atomic level into three dimensions, putting the processing elements closer to memory, power, and communications, making the chip faster and more capable even when features stay the same size. WSJ
Disney's new robot may be the cutest, most lifelike, and most expressive bot ever made by the entertainment giant. It was developed in a fraction of the usual time, thanks to a combination of 3D printing, off-the-shelf parts, and AI-assisted reinforcement learning, and researchers think it could be just the first of many personable robots to come. IEEE Spectrum
For the first time in history, e-sports is an official, medal-earning event at the Asian Games, the continent’s regional version of the Olympics. Over 20 countries competed in seven e-sports events, which were more popular than any other sport—the only ones in which arena tickets were sold on a lottery basis because of overwhelming demand. MIT Tech Review
A world-first trial of a gene therapy to cure auditory neuropathy, a form of deafness, has begun, potentially heralding a revolution in the treatment of hearing loss. Up to 18 children from the UK, Spain, and the US are being recruited. The condition is caused by a single faulty gene, and the therapy works by replacing this with a working copy via an injection into the cochlea. Ars Technica
Swedish scientists have unveiled what might be the most advanced prosthetic ever made. Known as the Mia Hand, it's outfitted with AI, and connected directly to the wearer's neuromusculoskeletal system. A Swedish woman has been wearing hers for years, allowing her to perform 80% of typical daily tasks and substantially reducing her phantom limb pain. Gizmodo
Researchers have created the largest-ever atlas of human brain cells, revealing more than 3,000 cell types—many of which are new to science. The work, which offers a detailed snapshot of what theoretical physicist Michio Kaku calls 'the most complicated object in the known universe,' will aid the study of diseases, cognition, and what makes us human. Nature
The information highway is still super
Ellen Gutoskey goes looking for the etymology of the word 'yo.' Her first stop is hip hop in the 90s, then she finds it amongst Italian immigrants in Philadelphia in the 1930s, on the decks of sailing ships in the 18th century, and in the scripts of playwrights from the Middle Ages. It turns out that yo is an organic utterance, and fun to say, which is why each generation seems to keep on discovering it. Mental Floss
Repeat after us:
There is no scientific basis for race.
There is no scientific basis for race.
There is no scientific basis for race.
There is no scientific basis for race.
When director Mamoru Oshii was looking for a model of the city of the future for Ghost in the Shell, he turned to Hong Kong for inspiration. Many years later, somebody went out and spent a bunch of evenings shooting various scenes of everyday life there as an homage to one of the greatest anime films of all time, and it's the most satisfying thing we've seen all week. Random Wire
Do you think human beings are the last stage in evolution? If not, what comes next? Mark Taylor, a professor of religion, says that something new, something different, is emerging. Whatever comes after the human will be neither simply organic nor machinic but the result of the increasingly symbiotic relationship between human beings and technology. Symbiogenesis is the only way to address the existential threats we face and that sounds scary, but read the essay before you make a judgement. Neoma
Fermi's Paradox anyone?
Loved this interview with Werner Herzog. Skip over the generic profile at the beginning, and go straight to the best part - the answers to questions sent in by people around the world. "Aerobics would be an abomination for me. Yoga even worse. Rather dead than sitting in a lotus pose." Guardian
And finally, a timely reminder:
That's it for this week, thanks for reading (and sorry about being a little late).
We'll see you next week!
With love,
Gus and Amy