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Solar panels reflect sparkling light from the Sun

Rio Tinto signs contract for Australian grid’s first gigawatt scale solar project

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Mining company Rio Tinto has signed a contract to buy all the electricity from what will be the biggest solar project on Australia’s main grid – a 1.1 GW facility near Gladstone in Queensland. Rio Tinto is seeking up to 4 GW of wind and solar to provide clean power to and guarantee the future of its three main assets in the region – the Boyne Island aluminium smelter, the Yarwun alumina refinery, and the Queensland alumina refinery. All three assets are now supplied by coal.

Mosquito

Historic malaria vaccine rollout begins in Cameroon

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The rollout of the world’s first malaria vaccine has begun in Cameroon, which is said to usher in a “transformative chapter in Africa’s public health history”. The RTS,S vaccine – 662,000 doses of it – will be administered to children in the west African country, the first to be vaccinated after successful trials of the drug in Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi between 2019 and 2021.

Doctor holding vial of HPV vaccine

No cervical cancer cases in HPV-vaccinated women in Scotland

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A new study from Public Health Scotland has found that no cases of cervical cancer have been detected in young women who have been fully-vaccinated as part of the HPV immunization program, concluding that the vaccine was “highly effective” in preventing the development of the cancer. Scotland’s HPV vaccination program started in 2008 with girls offered the vaccine in their first year at secondary school.

Person receiving shot in the arm

Cancer vaccine with minimal side effects nearing Phase 3 clinical trials

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The vaccine- developed by Dr. Thomas Wagner of U.S.-based Orbis Health Solutions – has already been tested in hundreds of patients with advanced forms of melanoma in Phase 2 clinical trials. The most recent data showed nearly 95% of people given only the vaccine were still alive three years after starting treatment and 64% were still disease-free. Among the most advanced forms of melanoma, disease-free survival after three years for people with stage III disease was 60% in the vaccine-only group, compared to about 39% in the placebo group.

Golden mahseer fish swimming

Indigenous effort in Bangladesh helps reverse endangered fish’s slide to extinction

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Unchecked logging and quarrying of rocks from streambeds in Bangladesh’s Chittagong Hill Tracts led to springs drying up and populations of putitor mahseer fish, an endangered species, disappearing. A project launched in 2016 and backed by USAID and the UNDP is working with Indigenous communities to reverse this decline.
Now, as a result of these efforts, areas where forests have been conserved have seen the flow of springs stabilize and fish populations revive.

The White House

Biden administration to forgive $4.9 billion in student debt for 73,600 borrowers

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The Biden administration has now canceled more than $136 billion in student debt for over 3.7 million Americans, according to the White House. Around $1.7 billion of this new aid will go to 29,700 borrowers enrolled in income-driven repayment plans. In addition, 43,900 borrowers who have worked in public service for a decade or more will receive $3.2 billion in loan cancellation.

Artist's concept of a solar power satellite in place

First ever space-to-Earth solar power mission succeeds

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A landmark test of beaming solar power to Earth from a satellite has concluded successfully after a year-long mission. Led by scientists at the California Institute of Technology, the mission completed all three of its primary experiments to test key technology for such an endeavor. They included a new origami-inspired solar panel structure, different cell designs, and a microwave transmitter.