280: Murderbot

This week's top stories

Incredible progress on AIDS for Africa and India 
Since 2010, national programs in Eastern and Southern Africa have prevented over 2.6 million new HIV infections in children - one of the top global public health achievements in decades, and in India, the world’s most populated country, new HIV cases have declined by 44% since 2010, surpassing global reduction rates of 39%.

Speed of EV adoption in China rattles global oil outlook
The speed at which China, the world’s biggest oil importer, is electrifying transport has stunned analysts and is freaking out oil majors. New energy vehicles make up about 10% of all cars on Chinese roads now, and that’s expected to exceed 20% by 2027 and could approach 100% by the 2040s. Chinese demand has made up 41% of annual global oil consumption growth over the past three decades. Bloomberg

Huge new protected area in Bolivia
The newly created Arroyo Guarichona is home to important freshwater reserves, floodplains, grasslands, forests, and endemic species. Covering almost 2000 km², the establishment of the new municipal protected area is the result of cooperative efforts from local communities, rural farmers, and Indigenous peoples. Andes Amazon Fund

Here's a more hopeful assessment of the SDGs
The UN often warns that we are not on track to meet the 2030 SDGs. However, a study of 24 indicators has found global progress on 18, with the clearest accelerations in progress on AIDS, and access to electricity. “Overall, a nuanced assessment of the SDGs can offer encouragement alongside the sober realism that current conditions demand.” Brookings

Global improvements in electricity access continue
Earlier this year the IEA reported that the number of people without electricity declined from over 760 million in 2022 to below 750 million in 2023 - and that India and Indonesia both reached universal access between 2021 and 2022, and Bangladesh followed in 2023. Data for 2024 suggests improvements are set to continue. IEA

Moore's Law shows no sign of slowing down
Analysis of computing power over 128 years reveals an unbroken exponential increase, with capacity doubling roughly every 18 months. The trend has survived multiple technology transitions, most recently from GPUs (green dots) to application-specific integrated circuits (yellow and orange dots). The pattern looks set to continue for at least another 20 years. Buckle up everyone. Future Ventures

India takes out mass, nationwide journal subscription 
The Indian government is about to give 18 million students, faculty and researchers free access to nearly 13,000 journals after striking a major deal with global publishers. This is huge news for India’s scholars, who are the third biggest contributors of research papers globally but often prevented from reading them by high subscription fees. Until now. Science

Christian institutions divest from fossil fuels
Religious institutions with $3 trillion in assets have led the way in divesting from fossil fuels. At COP29, an international coalition of Christian organisations announced that 27 religious groups, including dioceses, have divested from fossil fuel investments. This decision is rooted in Pope Francis' encyclical Laudato Si', which calls for environmental stewardship. Amen to that? La Croix

Norway on the cusp of eliminating sales of combustion vehicles 
Norway is about to become the first country in the world to almost eliminate sales of new combustion-powered cars. How did they do it? With a multi-pronged approach including wide availability (more than 160 electric models available), consistent policy incentives and of course the economy, stupid. “When the economics are good, people buy EVs in large numbers.” Bloomberg 🎁

Ocean conservation wins in Israel, Norway and the Baltic Sea
Israel just announced five new nature and heritage preservation areas, including its first national marine park, the EU has adopted conservation measures to prohibit bottom fishing at five sites in the Baltic Sea, and an environmental political party has successfully blocked Norway's plans to open large areas of its Arctic sea bed for exploration of metals and minerals.

Scientists track cells with biological 'barcodes'
For decades biologists have dreamed of finding a way to capture the trajectory of our cells over time, to help unpack bodily mysteries – like how exactly cells form organs. Now labs in Zurich, California and beyond are on the path to doing just that, engineering cells to record their own history, by inserting distinctive bits of genetic material that act as 'barcodes' as the cells divide. New York Times 🎁

Arizona enshrines the right to abortion

Arizona has a record of draconian bans on abortion, including this 1864 ban but also more recently a 15 week ban with no exceptions. This was the result of decades extremists trying to control women's bodies in Arizona. 23 governors before me and 38 legislatures before the one here couldn't or wouldn't repeal this law and I'm so proud that we got that done. We are mothers, daughters, sisters and wives, your co-workers, neighbours and friends. Abortion is healthcare. Reproductive rights are human rights and I'm happy to stand up for both of those things and now Arizona has the right to abortion enshrined in our state's Constitution.
Katie Hobbs, Governor of Arizona, 26 November 2024

China completes its own version of a Great Green Wall
A greenbelt of about 3,000 km was completed last week around the Taklamakan, China’s largest desert. Part of a national effort to end desertification and curb sandstorms, the tree planting effort took 46 years and spans more than 300,000 km². Reuters

Austria has replaced all Russian gas with renewables
In November, Russian energy giant Gazprom cut off its gas to Austria after 50 years of flows. However, thanks to a bumper year for both hydropower and wind, utilities are in a strong position to make do with only minimal gas supplies over the next several months, thanks to the ongoing reconfiguring of the Austrian power system away from fossil fuels.

Italy’s Motor City changes course 
Turin, once dominated by Fiat's auto factories, has transformed itself in the last 20 years into a public transport and biking heaven. Today, it's crisscrossed by 80 bus routes, eight tram lines, 22 subway stations, and 258 km of bike lanes. Some 95% of Turin residents now live within 300 meters of a transit stop, and fewer than half of local trips happen in a car. Bloomberg

A new generation shows signs of change: Car registrations among Turinese 25 or younger fell by a third between 2012 and 2022, and only 39% of local 18-year-olds have a driver’s license. It is a trend that Foglietta says she has personally observed. “When I go to the Polytechnic Torino, students tell me they have a driver’s license, but not a car,” she said. “Maybe having a car is not the most desirable thing for young people anymore, because they better appreciate public transit, the cycle paths, and just walking in our city.”

Bridging the hope gap

One of our readers, high school teacher Graeme Mitchell, just sent us this TEDx video, which was recently selected as an Editor's Pick. About a decade ago, he became really worried about how media was causing hopelessness amongst his students. In response, he started a pioneering program for fostering evidence-based optimism and equipping learners with the tools to drive real-world change.

The teachers involved reimagined their curriculum - dedicating half of all class time to showcasing stories of progress - and the results have been nothing less than astonishing. "It's as if we've hit a refresh button." If you're an educator, and especially if you work with young people, this is well worth ten minutes of your time.