Photo: Grace Nandi / Unsplash (CC0)
In today’s edition: a multi-billion euro clean energy deal is set to accelerate Africa’s switch to low-carbon power, the world is installing grid batteries at a faster pace than anyone anticipated, and scientists may have discovered a way to repair the nerve damage caused by multiple sclerosis.
At the Africa Forward Summit, both African and European business leaders and heads of state announced plans to invested roughly 27 billion euros across thirty projects. These projects aim to employ more than 600,00 people across the continent and speed up the region’s transition to low-carbon power.
Source: Mongabay
In 2025, a total of 112 gigawatts of batteries were deployed around the world – approximately ten times the amount added just four years prior. Installations of grid batteries, which can store solar and other energy for later use, increased by 48% in 2025 from the year before.
Source: Canary Media
Despite decades of research and huge advances in slowing progression of the disease, scientists have yet to develop a treatment capable of repairing the damaged nerve tissue left behind by multiple sclerosis, also known as MS. Now, a study has triggered the regrowth of myelin, the protective coating that lets nerve cells communicate properly.
Source: SciTechDaily
Governor Tim Walz has signed the country’s first law officially banning prediction market sites from operating in the state, cracking down on popular services such as Polymarket or Kalshi. The new state law makes it a crime to host or advertise a prediction market, defined as a system that lets consumers place a wager on a future outcome, like sports, elections, live entertainment, someone’s word choice and world affairs.
Source: NPR
Senate Bill 504 sets the minimum legal age for marriage at 18 with no exceptions. This change removes current statutory language that permits 16 and 17-year-olds to get married with parental consent, and minors under 16 to wed with court approval if pregnancy or childbirth is involved.
Source: News9
The concept that a child in care may need not only a foster home, but a wider circle of adults who can stay close over time is at the heart of a new effort to rethink fostering in England. The Fostering Innovation Fund is designed to help modernise foster care and make it more accessible to a wider range of people.
Source: Positive News
With the global plastic pollution crisis showing few signs of slowing down, researchers have developed a non-toxic plastic alternative, Bisphenol A, derived from the hemp plant. Avoiding the negatives of standard plastic materials, the new thermoplastic can extend up to 1,600% of its size, and has a high “glass transition temperature,” a quality that lets plastics stay dry and durable when coming into contact with boiling water.
Source: Phys.org
From protecting against wildfires and the impacts of climate change to bringing biodiversity to their homes, the breadth of knowledge to be learnt from beavers is huge. Now, beaver-centric “construction” projects are gaining more traction – including landscape engineering in an Oregon national park.
Source: Science Friday
The Langur Project Penang is helping the long-tailed arboreal species safely cross a busy road and access more of their natural habitat. In turn, it cuts down the amount of time the creatures spend in residential areas, where they’re known for causing problems for local residents.
Source: Mongabay
India’s welfare ecosystem is built to support the most vulnerable via housing schemes, pensions, education subsidies and livelihood programmes – but these often fail to translate into access. In order to change this, village leader Gamit Ripin began holding outreach sessions and creating Instagram reels, providing information on benefits open to local residents.
Source: Reasons To Be Cheerful
