🎈 Startup wants to cool the Earth with lots of balloons
Make Sunsets has released 82 balloons with sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere. Solar radiation management is controversial but could potentially reduce global warming quickly and cost-effectively.
🩸 Stem cells from one's own body can cure type 1 diabetes
A 25-year-old woman with type 1 diabetes began producing her own insulin after stem cell transplantation. The woman has been insulin-free for over a year and can now eat whatever she wants.
☄️ Scientists show nuclear explosion can deflect asteroid
Scientists have simulated the effect of X-rays from a nuclear explosion on asteroids. The results show that the method can provide sufficient force to change the trajectory of large asteroids. The technique could potentially be used to avert threats from asteroids up to four kilometers in diameter.
🤰 Obesity in the US is decreasing
Obesity among adults in the USA is 40.3 percent according to a new report. This is a decrease from 41.9 percent in 2020. It breaks a trend of annual increases that has been ongoing since 2011.
🌍 Plan to provide 300 million Africans with access to electricity
Mission 300 is the name of the plan to provide 300 million Africans with access to electricity by the end of 2030. A total of 90 billion dollars is needed to succeed. The World Bank and African Development Bank are contributing 30 billion dollars.
📉 Global extreme poverty has returned to pre-pandemic levels
During the pandemic, the number of extremely poor people in the world increased for the first time in a long while. Now the numbers have turned downward again and are reaching the same level as before the pandemic, below 9 percent.
❌ UK closes last coal power plant - end of a 142-year era
The UK will close its last coal power plant in October 2024, marking the end of a 142-year era. Coal's share of electricity production has decreased from 40% in 2012 to zero in 2024, one of the fastest energy transitions in the world.
👩💻 Google paves the way for practically usable quantum computers
Google has built a quantum computer that makes fewer errors as it scales up. The company has passed an important threshold for error correction in quantum units. This paves the way for practically usable quantum computers in the future.
🧫 DARTS takes up the fight against antibiotic resistance
A major research project called DARTS has been launched to combat antibiotic resistance. Researchers are using new methods such as AI and microfluidics to find new antibiotics faster. Improved diagnostics can reduce unnecessary antibiotic use and slow down resistance development.