Science & academia

Illustration of the concept of nuclear fusion

France runs fusion reactor for record 22 minutes

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Achieving the dream of commercial fusion power is the Holy Grail of engineering and has been for 80 years. With a single gram of hydrogen isotopes yielding the energy equivalent of 11 tonnes of coal, a practical fusion reactor would hold the promise of unlimited, clean energy for humanity until the end of time. France has upped the ante in the quest for fusion power by maintaining a plasma reaction for over 22 minutes – 25% longer than the previous record set by China in January 2025.

Two people holding hands

U.S. approves “milestone” Parkinson’s treatment for 2025 release

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The treatment, which will be sold under the name Onapgo, is essentially a subcutaneous – under the skin – device that allows for continuous infusion of the dopamine agonist apomorphine hydrochloride to reduce ‘off’ episodes. These episodes are periods during the day and night when lepodova medication wears off and adverse motor-function symptoms become amplified. In trial, Onapgo significantly reduced these daily off episodes by an average of 2.47 hours, compared to the placebo treatment.

Holding pills

U.S. FDA approves non-addictive alternative to opioids

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has signed off on the first new type of pain reliever to be approved in more than two decades. The drug, suzetrigine, is a 50-milligram prescription pill that’s taken every 12 hours after a larger starter dose. Crucially, suzetrigine creates no euphoria or high like opioids sometimes can, so doctors believe there’s no potential for it to create addiction or dependence in people who use it.

Illustration of the concept of nuclear fusion

China sets new fusion endurance record of over a thousand seconds

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Fusion power is widely thought of as the holy grail of renewable, climate-friendly energy. Now, we are one step closer to realizing practical fusion power for the masses. The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak reactor in China’s Anhui Province has set a new record with a 1,066-second sustained fusion reaction. The new record builds on the previous record of 403 seconds set by EAST in 2023. The increase was made possible by a number of upgrades to the experimental system that have doubled the power output while keeping the reaction stable.

Woman with pink breast cancer ribbon, breast cancer cure rates

Australian researchers nearly double cure rates for the most common breast cancer

By / / Good News For Humankind

A Phase III clinical trial led by Professor Sherene Loi of the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne found that adding immunotherapy drug nivolumab to standard pre-surgery chemotherapy nearly doubled breast cancer cure rates in patients with ER-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer — the most common subtype, accounting for 70% of all cases. Published in Nature Medicine on Jan. 21, 2025, the results point toward a new treatment paradigm for a subtype that has historically resisted improvement.

Depiction of intestines

“100% successful” cancer drug gets landmark U.S. FDA approval

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Hugely promising cancer drug dostarlimab is one step closer to being widely available, after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted it Breakthrough Therapy Designation status. The drug, a programmed death receptor-1-blocking antibody, completely eradicated rectal cancer tumors without the need for surgery, radiation treatment, or chemotherapy. “Everyone on the clinical trial is doing great,” Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center gastrointestinal oncologist Andrea Cercek said. “So far, 42 people have completed treatment, and all of them have no evidence of disease. Side effects were quite mild and well tolerated.”

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77% of universities have now pledged to divest from fossil fuels

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115 U.K. universities have now pledged to exclude fossil fuel companies from their investment portfolios, following Birmingham City University, Glasgow School of Art, Royal Northern College of Music, and the University of Bradford all incorporating fossil fuel industry exclusions into their Ethical Investment Policies. The divested universities represent 77% of the U.K. Higher Education sector and more than $22 billion USD worth of endowments.

Molten iron ore

China develops new iron making method that boosts productivity by 3,600 times

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The flash iron making method, as detailed by Professor Zhang Wenhai and his team in a paper published in the peer-reviewed journal Nonferrous Metals last month, can complete the iron making process in just three to six seconds, compared to the five to six hours required by traditional blast furnaces. According to Zhang and his colleagues, the new technology could improve energy use efficiency in China’s steel industry by over one-third. Additionally, by eliminating the need for coal entirely, it would help the steel industry achieve the goal of near-zero carbon dioxide emissions.

Model lungs

Doctors hail first breakthrough in asthma and COPD treatment in 50 years

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A trial from King’s College London found offering patients a new injection was more effective than the current care of steroid tablets, and cuts the need for further treatment by 30%. The results, published in the Lancet Respiratory Medicine journal, could be transformative for millions of people with asthma and COPD around the world. Lead investigator Professor Mona Bafadhel said: “This could be a gamechanger for people with asthma and COPD. Treatment for asthma and COPD exacerbations have not changed in 50 years, despite causing 3.8 million deaths worldwide a year combined.”

Ovarian and Cervical Cancer Awareness. a Teal Ribbon

Cervical cancer deaths are plummeting among young U.S. women

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Every year, thousands of American women die of cervical cancer. However, from 1992 to 2015, the number of deaths due to cervical cancer among U.S. women under the age of 25 fell steadily from each three-year period to the next, dropping roughly 75% altogether over that span. The sharp decline in cervical cancer deaths is likely due, at least in part, to the widespread introduction of the HPV vaccine in 2006.