E.U. adopts new tolling rules in watershed moment for green trucking
By May 2023, haulers operating zero-emissions trucks — battery electric or hydrogen — must be given discounts of at least 50% on distance-based road tolls.
Europe
This archive covers progress stories and milestones from across Europe, spanning health, climate policy, social equity, and scientific research. From small-nation experiments to E.U.-wide initiatives, these reports highlight what is working and why.
Wales offers £1,600 a month to care leavers in basic income pilot
Every 18-year-old leaving care will be offered £1,600 a month for two years.
Officials said it was the highest amount offered on a basic income scheme anywhere in the world.
Nuclear fusion heat record a ‘huge step’ in quest for new energy source
Nuclear fusion just hit a stunning new benchmark: scientists at the JET facility in Oxfordshire sustained a reaction for five seconds, releasing 59 megajoules of heat — more than double what the same machine produced in 1997. Inside the doughnut-shaped reactor, plasma reached 150 million degrees Celsius, roughly ten times hotter than the sun’s core, fusing hydrogen isotopes the same way stars do. The five-second burst matters because it proves the fuel can be burned stably and repeatably — the foundation any future power plant will need. If researchers can keep building on this, fusion’s promise of abundant, carbon-free energy drawn from seawater could reshape what a just, livable energy future looks like for everyone.
Norway to add gender-neutral pronoun to official Norwegian language
The gender-neutral third-person singular counterpart to the feminine “hun” and the masculine “han” will be “hen.”
Iceland to end whale hunting from 2024
Iceland’s current quotas for 2019-2023 allow for the hunting of 209 fin whales and 217 minke whales every year.
New artificial pancreas proves “life-changing” for young diabetics
The new study from the University of Cambridge involved 74 children with type 1 diabetes, aged one to seven, with subjects using the CamAPS FX artificial pancreas system for 16 weeks and showing promising results.
France ends ban on gay and bisexual male blood donors
France passed its first ban on men who have sex with men donating blood in 1983, in the early years of the AIDS crisis.
Germany to dedicate 2% of its land to wind power development
If successful, the plan will add up to 10 gigawatts of new onshore wind capacity every year for the rest of the decade.
Psilocybin clinical trial confirms safety of group psychedelic sessions
A new study published in the The Journal of Psychopharmacology found no detrimental effects from simultaneous administration of the drug.
U.K. to pardon all past convictions of consensual homosexual activity
The new amendment will pardon any conviction over homosexual activity that is no longer a crime today and that did not involve anyone under the age of 16.