This week's top stories
The global under-five mortality rate has fallen by over 50% since 1990, according to a new report by the United Nations. The report highlights five “exemplar” countries - India, Nepal, Senegal, Ghana, and Burundi - that, despite resource constraints and diverse contexts, have surpassed global declines through a common cocktail of strong governance, data-driven policies, expanded immunisation, and innovative health financing. UNICEF
Thailand prohibits all corporal punishment of children. Thailand has enacted full prohibition of all corporal punishment of children, making itself the 68th state worldwide to protect children from violent punishment. With a child population of 14,131,000, prohibition in Thailand brings the total number of children worldwide protected by law from corporal punishment to approximately 343 million, or 15% of the global child population. Asia News
Every generation in the United States has a lower risk of dementia than the last. While previous projections estimated U.S. dementia cases would double by 2050, a new analysis finds that age-adjusted prevalence has dropped by 67% over the past 40 years. If this trend continues, total cases may rise by only 25% instead of doubling. ALZFORUM
We’ve discovered a new class of antibiotics that can beat drug-resistant bacteria. McMaster researchers have identified lariocidin, the first new class of antibiotics in nearly three decades, effective against drug-resistant bacteria. Extracted from backyard soil bacteria and successfully tested in animal models, this discovery might go some way towards addressing the global antimicrobial resistance crisis responsible for 4.5 million annual deaths worldwide. Phys.org
Finland almost coal-free four years ahead of schedule. Finland has virtually eliminated coal power, dropping to less than 1% of its energy mix. Wind energy has more than doubled since 2020, now supplying 25% of the country's electricity while reducing consumer prices. The transition has cut Finland's emissions by 5% and boosted energy independence by ending reliance on Russian imports. Euronews
Uruguay has revolutionised its energy system, slashing imported oil dependency from 50% in 2008 to just 9% today while building one of the world's cleanest electricity grids. Following drought and oil price shocks, the nation pivoted to wind power that delivers electricity at one-third the cost of oil generation. This shift created 50,000 jobs and turned Uruguay from an electricity importer into an exporter. Net Zero Notes
Wildlife bridges and tunnels in Colorado are helping animals commute. Since 2015 the state has built 28 new crossing structures over highways and roads which have been found to reduce vehicle collisions with large animals by more than 80%. Research shows that wildlife crossings save money on any stretch of highway that averages three collisions between motorists and deer per mile, per year. NYT 🎁
The Thames river, 60 years ago declared “biologically dead,” is now one of the world’s cleanest rivers, and there's more progress to come. The Transforming the Thames coalition has just put together a $5 million mission to restore key habitats across the estuary, including marshes and seagrass meadows, and to protect wildlife like the critically endangered European eels, water filtering oysters, porpoises, seahorses, and lapwings. Oceanographic
'Modern day magic' reveals hidden Arthurian tales in a 500-year-old ledger. Cambridge researchers have recovered rare 13th-century Arthurian manuscripts hidden within a 1500s property ledger using multispectral imaging and CT scanning technology normally used for dating fossils. The painstaking digital reconstruction revealed Old French tales featuring Merlin's shapeshifting and Sir Gawain's sun-powered abilities. NYT 🎁
Modern science wouldn’t exist without the online research repository, arXiv. Wired has a nice in depth piece with its creator, Paul Ginsparg, who did something very clever in the early days that ensured its long-term survival. A good (and timely) reminder that we can still have nice things, and that this is what the internet was supposed to be for.
The biggest mystery is not why arXiv succeeded. Rather, it’s how it wasn’t killed by vested interests intent on protecting traditional academic publishing. Perhaps this was due to a decision Ginsparg made early on: Upon submission, users signed a clause that gave arXiv nonexclusive license to distribute the work in perpetuity, even in the event of future publication elsewhere. The strategic move ensured that no major publishers, known for their typically aggressive actions to maintain feudal control, would ever seriously attempt to shut it down.
In 2019, Iceland became one of the first countries to implement a four-day workweek. Today, nearly 90% of Icelandic workers have shifted from a 40- to 36-hour workweek, with no loss in pay. Six years later, research indicates that productivity remained stable or even increased in some sectors, all while workers reported better mental health. Parents reported more equal household sharing responsibilities. WEBC
Illinois has returned stolen land to the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation. The federal government ceded the land to Potawatomi Chief Shab-eh-nay in 1829, but then sold it to white settlers 20 years later. Governor JB Pritzker has now signed a law restoring the 1,500-acre Shabbona Lake State Recreation Area back to Potawatomi ownership. The land will stay open to the public as a park. ABC
Illinois has shown true courage and vision by leading the way in the Land Back movement, demonstrating that healing and reconciliation are possible.
California pilots a solar-over-canal system to combat drought. Project Nexus will cover canals with solar panels, generating clean energy while preventing water evaporation. The $20 million pilot follows UC Merced research showing potential for 13 GW of annual energy—one-sixth of state capacity—while saving 50,000 acres of land. There's more solar canals coming, too.
India is crushing it right now:
- The country's health insurance scheme for low-income families has enabled 6.8 million cancer treatments. Of these, 450,000 relate to targeted cancer therapies, with 76% of beneficiaries coming from rural areas. The scheme also provides for the sale of generic and oncology medicines at 50-80% price of branded versions.
- The country's roads are in for a twofer:
- India’s National Highway network has grown by 60% over the past decade, expanding from 91,287 km in 2014 to 146,195 km by in 2024. It is now the world's second largest highway network, and India hopes to make it the world's largest.
- But rural roads are getting attention too, thanks to the lesser-known PMGSY programme. Designed to narrow the stark urban-rural income gap, PMGSY has already been successful, paving 228,000km of rural roads since 2000.
- Since PMGSY was rolled out on the basis of village population, the design allowed researchers to compare connected and unconnected villages near each other. For villages with paved roads, they found reduced travel times, increased access to transport services, greater labour mobility, higher rates of vaccinations, fewer women needing permission to leave the house, pupils staying in school longer, and lower rates of gender-based violence.
- And it's not just government programs bringing in the wins: moved by a farmer’s suicide, former tax man Ujjwal Kumar Chavan built a 14,000-litre reservoir in his rural village, starting a movement. Today, Chavan and a group of dedicated volunteers have built 500,000 litres of water storage across 204 villages. The project is a win-win for environment and economy, restoring biodiversity and doubling farmers’ incomes.
And finally, research shows that community groups and small farmers restore land 6 to 20 times more effectively than international NGOs or governments and deliver more sustainable and equitable results. From Mexican fishers who have planted 1.8 million mangroves to locals in Guyana that are protecting a rare bird, here are 10 community-led conservation solutions that are working around the world.
