Today (2017 C.E. - 2025 C.E.)

New York passes laws protecting kids from addictive social media content

By Peter Schulte / June 8, 2024 / Good news links

New York state has taken novel legislative steps to limit children’s exposure to computer algorithmic social media feeds, passing two laws to protect children from social media content and to protect their privacy. The Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation for Kids Act requires social media companies to restrict feeds for users under 18. The second law, the New York Child Data Protection Act, prohibits online sites from collecting, using, sharing, or selling personal data of anyone under the age of 18.

U.K. researchers identify and treat major cause of inflammatory bowel disease

By Peter Schulte / June 6, 2024 / Good news links

For the first time, a major trigger in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and related conditions has been identified, and existing drugs can stamp it out, in what scientists call a “massive step” in successfully treating these debilitating chronic conditions. Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute, in collaboration with University College London (UCL) and Imperial College London (ICL), have uncovered a problem gene enhancer that stimulates action along a specific biological pathway that causes IBD inflammation.

Portugal welcomes first wild bison in 10,000 years as part of plan to rewild a quarter-million acres

By Peter Schulte / June 6, 2024 / Good news links

From Poland to Romania to the U.K., European wood bison are now firmly recognized as one of the best tools for returning what little wilderness Europe has left to as wild a state as possible. In Portugal, the gradual abandonment of the Greater Côa Valley has presented an unprecedented opportunity for rewilding in the small country. The government has already set aside a quarter million acres of land for conservation.

Global deaths from tetanus have been reduced massively since 1990s

By Peter Schulte / June 5, 2024 / Good news links

Tetanus is a bacterial disease that causes paralysis and can lead to death. Globally, it was estimated to kill more than 250,000 people each year in the early 1990s. Most of these deaths were in children. By 2019, annual deaths had fallen to less than 35,000. The rollout of the combined vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis among children has been crucial in driving this.

Sweden to ban bottom fishing in territorial waters

By Peter Schulte / June 5, 2024 / Good news links

Bottom trawling, a practice criticized by NGOs for impacting ecosystems, involves dragging heavy nets over the seabed, damaging ecosystems, and releasing carbon into the oceans. Sweden is set to become the second EU country to ban bottom fishing in marine protected areas, going a step further than Greece’s April decision by banning it in all territorial waters.

The world’s largest solar farm just came online in China’s Xianjiang autonomous region

By Peter Schulte / June 5, 2024 / Good news links

The world’s largest solar farm, in the desert in northwestern Xinjiang, is now connected to China’s grid. The 3.5-gigawatt, 33,000-acre solar farm is outside Urumqi, Xinjiang’s capital.
Assuming an EV consumes about 3,000 kWh per year, 6.09 billion kWh could power 2.03 million EVs annually.

New bowel cancer drug is found to be 100% effective

By Peter Schulte / June 4, 2024 / Good news links

An immunotherapy drug could spare bowel cancer patients the need for surgery and chemotherapy after results showed it was effective in 100% of cases. Jemperli from British pharmaceutical company GSK showed “unprecedented results”, the firm said, with no evidence of disease in all patients treated. The data showed all 42 patients in a trial led by Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in the U.S. had a complete response to treatment, with no evidence of tumors on scans.

Free contraception initiative helps Finland reduce teenage abortions by 66%

By Peter Schulte / June 4, 2024 / Good news links

The number of abortions among women under 20 rose during the 1990s in Finland, leading the Nordic country to make morning-after pills available without prescription from 15 years of age and sexual education compulsory in all schools. As a result, the number of abortions fell 66% to 722 in 2023 from 2,144 in 2000 among all teenagers aged 19 or younger in Finland, while the drop was even steeper at 78% among those under 18 in the same period.

Mexico elects Claudia Sheinbaum as first female president

By Peter Schulte / June 4, 2024 / Good news links

Mexico’s official electoral authority said preliminary results showed the 61-year-old former mayor of Mexico City winning between 58% and 60% of the vote in the recent election. That gives her a lead of about 30 percentage points over her main rival, businesswoman Xóchitl Gálvez. Ms. Sheinbaum will replace her mentor, outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, on 1 October.

New blood test can predict breast cancer return

By Peter Schulte / June 2, 2024 / Good news links

An “ultra-sensitive” new blood test developed and tested by Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) London can predict if breast cancer will return years before the disease shows up on scans, researchers say. It picks up traces of a tumor’s DNA before a full relapse and was found to be 100% accurate at predicting which patients would see their cancer return. It is hoped that the test can allow treatment to start earlier and improve survival rates.