The Best News of 2023

Best News of 2023

Good things happen every month. Hence in the tradition of the year in review we like to remind you of three randomly selected news articles of each month.

January

Could Ultrasound Replace the Stethoscope?

Miniaturization, experimentation, and A.I. have unlocked revolutionary potential in an old technology.

20/01/2023 The New Yorker

Creating new life from dead mines

Huge open pits that were once mined for coal and metals are enjoying a sometimes fragrant, or even tasty, afterlife. DW looks at different ways old mines are being rehabilitated.

16/01/2023 Deutsche Welle

This butterfly was once thought extinct. Now it's off the endangered species list

The Fender’s blue butterfly has fluttered away from the brink of extinction.

21/01/2023 CNN

February

Why Singapore Is Breeding Millions of Mosquitoes

Dengue is a common scourge in Singapore. To slow the spread, a government lab infects mosquitoes with a bacterium called Wolbachia. When the males mate with wild females, the eggs don’t hatch. So far, this effort has helped suppress wild insect…

13/02/2023 Undark Magazine

First RSV vaccine paves the way for ‘new era’ in fight against emerging pathogens

Thanks to years of research into the respiratory syncytial virus, scientists were able to develop Covid-19 vaccines in record time

16/02/2023 El País

Riding the Green Wave: Exploring the Role of Bicycles and Digital Tools in the Green Mobility Transition

Can bikes and technology join forces to create a greener tomorrow? How are cities harnessing the power of digital tools to make cycling the preferred mode of transportation?

20/02/2023 Reset.org

March

Scientists find ‘potential breakthrough’ to stop bullying in schools

A new way of tackling bullying trialed among students in South Korea could be a potential game-changer in creating an “anti-bullying climate” in schools, scientists say.

30/03/2023 The Independent

The race for the wind power of the future

High-altitude winds remain a huge untapped source of renewable energy, but a race to the sky is well underway.

27/03/2023 Deutsche Welle

Hemophilia: breakthrough therapies aim to ‘dethrone’ the disease of kings

The new and million-dollar gene treatment make the disease remit almost completely for four or five years. Open investigations now seek a definitive cure

25/03/2023 El País

April

Duchenne muscular dystrophy promises a bleak future. Gene therapy may change that.

The treatment of Duchenne's is in the midst of a revolution, bringing hope to a disease that inevitably left boys in a wheelchair in their teens.

30/04/2023 USA Today

Kelp forests capture nearly 5 million tonnes of CO2 annually

Towering underwater kelp forests generate a potential value of $500 billion each year by providing a boost to commercial fishing, as well as nitrogen and carbon removal

18/04/2023 NewScientist

How Liquid Trees Could Help to Clean Up Our Urban Jungles

It might be desirable to live in the leafy suburbs, but for urban dwellers green spaces may be few and far between. Microalgae liquid trees might provide an alternative.

10/04/2023 Reset.org

May

Mutation Protected Man From Alzheimer’s Disease, Hinting at Treatment

A man in his early 40s showed physical signs of the illness, but didn’t develop symptoms until he was nearly 70 because of a protective gene.

15/05/2023 New York Times

Stem cells treat diabetes without triggering immune response in mice

The cells could potentially be used to treat range of medical conditions, from heart attacks to cancer, without having to be made from scratch for each person

08/05/2023 NewScientist

The Dawn of an Auto-Captioned World

Automated live captions used to be terrible. But they’re becoming transformative for people who can’t hear.

28/05/2023 The Atlantic

June

Climate Education in New Jersey: 7-Year Olds Are Finding Solutions

New Jersey is the first state to require that climate change be taught at all grade levels. The focus is on problem solving, not doom and gloom.

15/06/2023 New York Times

Porto Digital Is the Quixotic Tech Hub That Actually Worked

Created in 2000 to halt urban decay in the Brazilian city of Recife, the initiative has brought thousands of tech jobs to the region.

30/06/2023 Wired

A Finnish firm thinks it can cut industrial carbon emissions by a third

Just three industries—chemicals, steel and cement—account for around a fifth of all man-made carbon-dioxide emissions (see chart). Not only are those industries big polluters, they are also hard to clean up.

07/06/2023 Economist

July

‘The result was amazing’: one man’s mission to reforest a barren Irish hillside

Eoghan Daltun stood on a slope and pointed to a distant vista of verdant fields, craggy hills and conifer trees across the Beara peninsula in west Cork. Sun glinted off the rocks and sheep grazed in meadows.

04/07/2023 The Guardian

Data from thousands of GPS devices detects an earlier phase that heralds major earthquakes

Hours before the earthquake, there is a subtle but accelerated displacement of the fault where the tremor will originate

21/07/2023 El País

New Zealand becomes first country to ban single-use produce bags at grocery stores

The nation has banned the bags that typically hold vegetables and fruit. Recyclable, biodegradable or plant-based plastic bag are also included in the ban.

03/07/2023 NPR

August

Voyager 2: Nasa fully back in contact with lost space probe

Nasa is back in full contact with its lost Voyager 2 probe months earlier than expected, the space agency said. In July a wrong command was made to the spacecraft, sent to explore space in 1977, changing its position and severing contact.

04/08/2023 BBC

Two people regain speech thanks to brain implants

Researchers were able to translate neural signals into words with experimental devices in one woman with ALS and another who suffered a stroke

23/08/2023 El País

‘Transformative’ blood test can identify cause of fever in children in an hour

Researchers hope it could help diagnose illnesses in youngsters faster, and tackle the overuse of antibiotics.

18/08/2023 The Independent

September

Water is key for this soil-free Brooklyn farm growing fish, plants – and community

Nestled between a Trader Joe’s and New York City’s East River is Oko Farms, a little hub of greenery in Brooklyn that looks out on to Manhattan’s skyline. Fenced off in the corner of an expansive construction site, it’s not easy to locate.

07/09/2023 The Guardian

Battery prices plummet as electric cars approach ‘tipping point’

The cost of batteries fell by nearly 10 per cent in August, taking them past a key milestone that is seen by energy analysts as a “tipping point” to supercharge the transition to electric vehicles.

19/09/2023 The Independent

Scientific dynamic duo aims to stop the next pandemic before it starts

Two scientists, one Nigerian and one American, created a cutting-edge surveillance network to catch the next emerging disease before it becomes a pandemic.

25/09/2023 NPR

October

Reasons to regain technological optimism

Artificial intelligence systems can free us from boring tasks and give us time to be more creative. But can we really trust technology?

02/10/2023 El País

Japan rewards diligent taxpayers with Kobe beef and other delicacies

Since 2008, Japan has had a tax called furusato nozei, which rewards people who pay it with a variety of luxury products.

26/10/2023 El País

Dengue rates plummeted in Colombia after lab-infected mosquito release

The world sees up to 100 million cases and 22,000 deaths due to dengue every year. Researchers may have found a way to cut those numbers significantly.

31/10/2023 Deutsche Welle

November

This Moroccan startup is growing crops in the desert

Sand to Green is working to transform patches of desert into sustainable and profitable plantations.

22/11/2023 CNN

Sweden opens state-of-the-art plant for sorting plastics for recycling

Sweden has opened a new state-of-the-art plastic sorting facility, the largest of its kind and big enough to receive all plastic packaging waste generated from Swedish households

15/11/2023 The Independent

The Long Quest for a Universal Flu Vaccine Finally Takes Its First Steps

The search for a shot that could protect us against many strains—and maybe a pandemic—is notching achievements at last. But the flu’s endless mutation and our own biology stand in the way.

10/11/2023 Wired