👩⚕️ Huntington's disease has been successfully treated for the first time
A gene therapy has for the first time been shown to slow Huntington's disease by 75 percent after three years in a clinical trial. The results provide proof that the disease can be treated, opening possibilities for other neurodegenerative conditions as well.
🔭 Google's former CEO is funding four new telescopes to be completed within four years
Eric and Wendy Schmidt are investing in building four large telescopes, including a space telescope that will rival Hubble. One of the telescopes, Argus Array, consists of 1,200 small telescopes that together can photograph the entire northern sky in a few minutes.
👁️ Number of people needing treatment for trachoma has decreased by 94 percent
Trachoma is the world's leading infectious cause of blindness. The number of people requiring interventions against trachoma has dropped from 1.5 billion to 97.1 million since 2002. Over 1.1 billion doses of antibiotics have been donated to combat the disease.
📊 Africa expected to have higher economic growth than Asia for the first time
The IMF predicts that sub-Saharan Africa will grow by 4.4 percent in 2026, compared to Asia's 4.1 percent. Africa's stable outlook is supported by a weak dollar, lower debt pressure and high commodity prices for gold and copper.
🌏 Fewer people than ever before say they are living truly bad lives
33 percent of the world’s adults are now classified as “thriving” according to Gallup’s Wellbeing Index—the highest level in more than a decade. The rise in wellbeing is visible across all demographic groups. Men and women, young and old alike now rate their lives more positively than before.
☀️ Renewable energy is the scientific breakthrough of the year – surpasses coal as power source worldwide
The journal Science has named the advance of renewable energy as the breakthrough of the year after solar and wind power surpassed coal as a power source globally. In 2004, it took a full year to install 1 gigawatt of solar power capacity globally – today twice that amount goes online every day.
🌎 Study: Economic growth without increased emissions now a reality in most countries
Countries representing 92 percent of the global economy have now decoupled consumption-based carbon emissions from GDP growth. China's emissions have plateaued over the past 18 months and may have peaked.
🦟 Scientists succeed in creating mosquitoes that block malaria
Researchers in Tanzania have for the first time in Africa created genetically modified mosquitoes that prevent the malaria parasite from developing. The modified mosquitoes contain naturally occurring molecules from frogs and bees that effectively stop the parasite Plasmodium falciparum.
🐘 Number of African forest elephants revised upward by 16 percent
A new report estimates there are 135,690 African forest elephants, an upward revision of 16 percent compared to 2016 figures. Gabon is home to 66 percent of the global population of African forest elephants.