296: Life Is Radiant

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This week's top stories

The James Webb Space Telescope has completed its most ambitious project yet, capturing 0.54 square degrees (an area roughly equal to three full Moons) in a 255-hour observation revealing extended stellar halos, vast cosmic voids, gravitational lensing effects, and a prominent galaxy cluster 9.9 billion light-years away. The dataset, now publicly available, enables scientists to track cosmic structure development from the earliest galaxies to today's complex universe. Some truly mind-bending images here from Big Think.

“The man who dies thus rich dies disgraced.” Bill Gates has announced plans to give away nearly $200 billion between now and 2045, after which the Gates Foundation will permanently close its doors. In a wide-ranging interview with the New York Times (gift link), he explains why this is the time to go all in given Trump’s assault on global health, the promise of more lifesaving innovations in the near future, and the potential impact of AI.

High hopes for world’s first TB vaccine in 100 years. A closely watched clinical trial testing the new vaccine has hit enrolment targets earlier than expected because of volunteer enthusiasm in communities located in TB hotspots. The vaccine is designed to prevent adults from advancing to the dangerous stage of an infection (the current, century-old vaccine is targeted at babies and children) and could have an efficacy of about 50% - huge news given that TB is the world's deadliest infectious disease and kills over a million people a year. STAT

South Africa's wattled crane rebounds from brink of extinction. South Africa's wattled crane population has increased from fewer than 200 birds in 2000 to over 300 today, improving its conservation status from critically endangered to endangered. The recovery follows three decades of targeted conservation efforts including wetland protection, power line modifications to prevent collisions, and partnerships with farmers whose land contains crucial breeding habitat. Mongabay

Kenya’s latest energy policy review shows that electricity access rose from 37% in 2013 to 79% in 2023. Almost everybody living in an informal urban settlement now has access to an electricity connection, raising the overall urban access rate to nearly 100%. The Kenyan government is aiming to reach 100% electricity access by 2030 and 100% renewable electricity generation by 2035. Forbes

Over the last two decades, local divers and fishers have pieced together a mosaic of no-catch zones covering 20,000 km² of Mexico's coasts. Though the national government recognises the refuges now, they were originally created by local communities in response to government inaction, and even post-recognition, will be run by locals. Wired

Climate lawsuits triple since Paris Agreement. Climate litigation has exploded to 3,000 cases across 55+ countries, with lawsuits against fossil fuel companies nearly tripling since 2015. Key battles include Hawaii's deception case against Big Oil, youth successfully challenging Ontario's climate target rollbacks, and African NGOs suing governments over a pipeline expected to produce 34 million tonnes of carbon annually. Corporate Knights

Every region of the globe has seen a steep rise in mobile phone subscriptions since the year 2000 (and by 'steep,' we mean from less than 1% to more than one subscription per person). While we all know that phones have their downsides, they also enable people to learn, connect, and build, especially in places where physical infrastructure’s lacking. To celebrate, take a read on how mobile phones bring banking to the poor, provide healthcare to those with limited access, allow refugees to talk to their families, and give the world's most isolated access to education.

US oil production set for first decline in a decade as global demand slows. Crude prices have fallen 17% this year, reaching inflation-adjusted lows seen only twice since 2004 outside the pandemic. The number of crews fracking shale for oil and gas has already fallen 15% this year with crews in the Permian Basin down 20% from a peak in January. CNBC

China has transformed over 650 km² of monoculture forests along the Yangtze River into diverse mixed ecosystems, expanding mixed-forest coverage from 6% to 62%. The $150 million initiative engaged has provided 10,000+ farmers with sustainable livelihoods that doubled monthly incomes, and is on track to transform 1,300 km² by 2027. Beyond improving biodiversity and water retention, the transformed landscapes will sequester 23.5 million tons of carbon over 30 years. World Bank

And that’s not the country's only environmentally ambitious plan. Strict laws now protect a 1.09 million km² band of black soil in the nation's Northeast from illegal excavation, putting a stop to those who smuggled away the soil for use in nurseries and flower markets. The same laws now protect the region from toxic dumping – and given that it sits smack in the middle of one of China's major grain production sites, we can see why. China Daily

China is also planning a major new project to re-wild the endangered North China Leopard after recent (and very exciting) leopard sightings just 20 km from Beijing. The 10-year initiative will plant 10 million oak trees across the Taihang and Yanshan mountains, creating critical wildlife corridors connecting Beijing, Hebei, and Shanxi provinces. Dialogue Earth

Gene-edited immune cells show promise against advanced cancer. University of Minnesota scientists have successfully used gene-editing to treat late-stage digestive system cancers. Using CRISPR, they modified patients' immune cells to better fight cancer by removing a gene that normally limits their attack strength. Of the 12 patients with previously incurable cancer, several saw their disease stop spreading, while one patient's tumours completely disappeared.

The US National Institutes of Health has closed its final beagle testing laboratory, after recognising that giving drugs to dogs poorly predicts what those drugs will do in human bodies. All hail organoids and tissue chips for further future testing! Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine

WTAF? → Living organisms emit light that ceases after death. Canadian researchers have detected evidence of an eerie 'biophoton' phenomenon in living mice that significantly decreases after death. Similar results were observed in plant leaves, with injured areas glowing brighter. This remarkable discovery suggests that all living organisms may emit an ethereal glow of visible light—that vanishes when life ends. Science Alert

And finally, this wonderful photo essay from UNICEF highlights the incredible lengths health workers go to protect children in some of the world’s most hard-to-reach places, travelling across mountains, rivers and flooded terrain by foot, boat, horseback and camel, to deliver life-saving vaccines. Forget the red carpet at Cannes - these are the real celebrities.

If it bleeds it leads

An unexpected variation on Dog Bites Man. Apparently this story was important enough to warrant 484 words on the most visited English-language news website in the world. Spare a thought for Genevieve Glatsky, the Times reporter who was interrupted from her usual beat on Latin American politics and made to write what might just be the most un-newsworthy article of the year.

Bet you it got a lot of clicks though.

For what it's worth, Yellowstone is the only place in the United States where bison have lived continuously since prehistoric times.