Photo: Kristaps Solims/Unsplash (CC0)
In today’s edition: the adult smoking rate in the United States reaches a historic low, Britain’s Parliament moves to abolish hereditary nobles, and new robots are being deployed to help clean pollution from the world’s oceans.
Based on representative survey data, researchers estimated that less than 10% of U.S. adults smoked a cigarette in 2024 – the first time this rate has ever dropped to single digits. In 1964, the same year the US surgeon general issued his report outlining the now-established dangers of smoking, 42% of adults reported smoking.
Source: Gizmodo
The unelected House of Lords plays an important role in British democracy, scrutinising legislation passed by the House of Commons – but its critics have long argued that it functions as a “gallery of old boys’ networks”. Now, after seven centuries, Parliament has voted to remove the last hereditary nobles from the governing body.
Source: AP News
Researchers behind SeaClear2.0 and its predecessor SeaClear have developed a fleet of drones that can independently pinpoint litter lying on the seabed. The robots can spot everyday items such as bottles, tyres and other debris and can distinguish it from rocks, plants and marine life.
Source: Euronews
Estimates suggest that by 2050, there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean. To tackle this, Scientists from the RIKEN Center for Emergent Science Matter and the University of Tokyo have developed a new plastic material which they claim “dissolves within hours”.
Source: Reset
Research from RAND shows that incarcerated individuals who take part in educational programmes are 48% less likely to return to prison than those who lack such opportunities. With this in mind, California launched a partnership in 2016 with California State University, Los Angeles to give people in prison the chance to earn a college degree.
Source: Good Good Good
Tucked between social housing blocks and railway lines in south London, a riding school is helping children from disadvantaged backgrounds improve their wellbeing through horse riding. Around 160 young people attend sessions each week at the Ebony Horse Club in Brixton: an area that ranks among the most deprived in England and has struggled with high levels of knife crime.
Source: Reuters
Tunisian startup Bako Motors is entering the global EV market by tapping into one of Africa’s most abundant resources: sunlight. The company builds compact cars and cargo vans equipped with rooftop solar panels that help charge their lithium batteries.
Source: CNN
European hedgehog populations have fallen by about 30% over the past decade. Urban development and intensive farming have fragmented their habitats, often forcing the animals to cross roads where many are struck by vehicles. Now, researchers have shown that hedgehogs can hear high-frequency ultrasound, which could be used to keep them away from roads.
Source: Euronews
After decades of conservation efforts on both sides of the US-Canada border, the animals are once again present in marshes and estuaries throughout the basin, with thriving breeding populations along Ohio’s Sandusky, Maumee and Grand rivers.
Source: Rewilding Mag
