Scientific discoveries, social advances, safeguarding biodiversity… The year which is ending has also been marked by positive events. Yes Yes. France 24 lists a few.
The year 2023 is coming to an end! If the news of the past months has often been dark, between wars and climatic disasters, it has also brought its share of good news. Some are historical, some have brought relief, others are more anecdotal but all have allowed us to smile again. France 24 dug into its archives.
The European Euclid telescope has revealed its first images of the universe
A range of objects scattered throughout the universe and breathtaking shots. Launched into space in July, the European Euclid space telescope offered its first images at the beginning of November. These revealed a dazzling nebula resembling a horse’s head, never-before-seen distant galaxies… and even “indirect evidence” of the existence of elusive dark matter.
By 2029, the telescope, which has the widest field of view in the history of astronomy, will have the mission of mapping a third of the sky, or two billion galaxies, to create the most visible 3D map precise of the universe. The next images are due to be released in January. A way to start 2024 with your head in the stars.
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Advances in Parkinson’s disease research
The year 2023 will have been marked by several promising advances in Parkinson’s disease. In April, a study published in The Lancet Neurology showed that the accumulation of a protein – alpha-synuclein – in the brain was indeed linked to certain forms of the disease. A discovery that could pave the way for early diagnosis of the disease. The advance would then constitute a revolution, this neuro-degenerative pathology being currently only diagnosed based on physical signs.
Then, in November, a 61-year-old Parkinson’s patient managed to walk again thanks to a neuro-prosthesis placed in his lower back. The operation is simple: the prosthesis sends ultra-precise electrical stimulation to the motor nerves which control the leg muscles, which activates them. The team of Franco-Swiss researchers behind the experiment should include six new patients in a future clinical trial in 2024. If the results prove conclusive, however, we will still have to wait several years before finding this neuro-prosthesis. on the market.
A second malaria vaccine will be rolled out for children
“Safe and effective”. In early October, the WHO gave the green light to deploy a second vaccine for children against malaria, R21/Matrix-M. This very old disease, which causes fever, headaches and chills, and can become a serious condition – or even fatal in the absence of treatment – caused the death of 619,000 people worldwide in 2021, mainly in Africa.
The WHO estimates that 60 million doses of this vaccine could be ordered each year, and thus added to the millions of doses of the first put into circulation in 2021, RTS,S. A big step forward in disease prevention.
Saiga antelopes, rhinos, monk seals or giant squirrels… Animal species are doing better
Species threatened with extinction often make headlines. It must be said that from year to year, their number, compiled by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) grows continuously. But the report also reveals some good news.
Two species of antelopes, the scimitar-horned oryx and the saiga antelopes, are thus recovering and seeing their populations increase. Same observation regarding the Mediterranean monk seal and the plantain squirrel, a species which lives in Indonesia and which is no longer considered vulnerable. The population of African rhinos has, for its part, increased by 5% in one yearexceeding 23,000 individuals.
A new species from the age of dinosaurs has been discovered
An inspiration for the next “Jurassic Park”? A fossil of a new dinosaur was discovered in September in northeast China. And with its half-dino, half-heron characteristics, this Fujianvenator prodigiosus could well shake up the history of bird evolution.
Because birds are closely related to dinosaurs. These are, in short, those who survived the extinction of the species. Until now, it was thought that their large family appeared at the end of the Jurassic, 150 million years ago. And the theories of evolution were based on the discovery, in Bavaria, of Archaeopteryx, the “first” bird in history, in 1860. Except that it looked, in a way, like a large pigeon. By unearthing Fujianvenator prodigiosus, with its very different characteristics but dating from the same period, scientists realized that several types of dino-birds must have existed in different places on the globe at the same time.
A significant drop in deforestation in the Amazon
It was a promise made by President Lula when he was elected president of Brazil: to reduce deforestation in his country to zero by 2030. If the objective has not yet been met, deforestation in the Amazon has decreased by 22.3% in one year to reach its lowest level in five years, according to figures from the Brazilian Institute of Space Research (INPE) published in November.
Good news for the planet and for the tens of thousands of animal and plant species that live in this “green lung”. According to the Brazilian government, this reduction in deforestation between August 2022 and July 2023 made it possible to avoid the emission of 133 million tonnes of CO2, or 7.5% of the total emitted by the country.
The loss and damage fund set up at COP28
COP28, held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, started with great fanfare. From the first day of this great international rally of climate negotiations, the States agreed on the establishment of the fund for losses and damages. This tool, decided at COP26, is intended to compensate for the damage caused by disasters or irreversible losses linked to climate change in the most vulnerable countries.
“The launch of the loss and damage fund will finally make it possible to help populations affected by the worst impacts of climate change,” welcomed Fanny Petitbon, spokesperson for the NGO Care France.
In the process, several developed states have increased their pledges of donations, the amount of which amounts to 655 million dollars (the equivalent of 596 million euros). Below the necessary amounts, but a first step forward.
LGBT+ rights continue to advance around the world
Things are moving in Asia for the rights of LGBT+ people. In Japan, a historic ruling was issued in July in favor of a transgender woman who sued the government to obtain access to the toilets at their workplace. At the start of the year, the country also adopted its first law aimed at protecting the LGBT+ community against discrimination.
For its part, Nepal recognized at the end of November, for the first time in the country’s history, a marriage between a transgender woman and a cisgender man – the word “cisgender” describes a person who recognizes themselves in the gender assigned to them at birth. The couple married in 2017 in a Hindu ceremony and had to fight five years to see their union officially recognized. “This is a victory after a decades-long battle for marriage equality. [Le couple] wrote history. This is a major event for us,” said former MP and activist Sunil Babu Pant, who campaigns for LGBT+ rights in the country.
Two centuries old letters to French sailors found in England
A letter from the wife of an officer, another from a mother reproaching her son for not writing to her more often… Missives written in the 18th centurye century to French sailors during the Seven Years’ War (1756-1763) between France and Great Britain were found and finally opened, offering testimonies both intimate and historical.
“I would very well spend the night writing to you (…), your faithful wife for life. Good evening my dear friend. It is midnight. I think it is time to rest”, written for example in 1758 Marie Dubosc to her husband Louis Chambrelan, first lieutenant of the French frigate Galatea, captured by the British. Written mainly by women, these letters bear witness to the experience of these wives, mothers and fiancées in times of war. Small stories in the big one.
The Egypt of the pharaohs reveals new mysteries
Two mummies were discovered a month apart, several meters underground, in the Saqqara necropolis in the Memphis region of Egypt. They are covered in gold and date back around 4,300 years. They are thus among the oldest ever found.
The Saqqara Necropolis, in continuous use for over 3,000 years, is arguably one of the most important historical sites in ancient Egypt. Over nearly 20 kilometers, what was the last resting place of the kings contains several hundred tombs. And the discovery of these two mummies serves as a reminder that the necropolis is far from having revealed all its secrets.