Stories in
The latest positive stories in science, edited for an easier read.
Billy Caldwell, whose family’s 2018 campaign became closely associated with changes to UK access rules for cannabis-based medicines, has celebrated his 21st birthday in Northern Ireland. His mother, Charlotte Caldwell, says he is seizure-free and receiving NHS treatment, while continuing to call for more consistent access for other patients.
University of Essex researchers and international collaborators report using AI-guided protein redesign to convert 672 antibodies into stable intracellular antibody fragments, known as intrabodies. The work, published in Nature Communications, identifies electrical charge as a key determinant of whether such fragments remain functional inside human cells. The molecules are to be made freely available for research on proteins linked to Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Huntington’s disease and motor neurone disease.
A study tracking schoolchildren in London and Luton found that London children’s lung size and function improved after the ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) began in 2019. Researchers followed 1,664 London children and 1,750 children in Luton from 2018 to 2022, using Luton as a comparison town without a clean-air zone. An independent expert said other factors, including pandemic-related pollution changes, mean the results cannot be attributed to Ulez with certainty.
The Guardian has opened public voting for its 2026 Invertebrate of the Year after receiving more than 1,300 reader nominations and narrowing them to 10 candidates. The shortlist includes species such as Bombus dahlbomii, the Lord Howe Island stick insect, the wandering glider, the immortal jellyfish and the common woodlouse. The exercise foregrounds both the diversity of invertebrates and functions such as pollination, decomposition and water filtration.
Researchers reported that rapamycin-based nanoparticles carrying ponatinib reduced venous-malformation size by 70% in mouse models after one injection and 20 days. The particles were designed to accumulate in leaky abnormal vessels, but their long-term effect, repeat-dose needs and relevance to people are not yet known.
The Guardian has published a children’s multiple-choice quiz built around five questions submitted by young readers. It covers why sloths hang upside down, what time is, whether counting has a largest number, why Earth has seasons and what gamma rays are. The feature invites children to submit their own questions for later quizzes and notes that its host, Molly Oldfield, also hosts the Everything Under the Sun podcast.
An Australian Skytraders crew flew a medical evacuation from McMurdo Station, Antarctica, to Christchurch after an urgent request from the US Antarctic Program. The Airbus A319 landed in reported -43C conditions and total darkness after weather delayed the mission; the patient was transferred for treatment and is reported to be recovering well.
A study of 36 children aged 8–17 with developmental disabilities and their family cats found that a six-session cat-training program was associated with higher reported cat-care responsibility than in a control group. Participants also reported more teaching and walking of their cats after training, while researchers observed changes in cats’ sociability and attachment classifications. The findings were published in Animals.
A research team surveying remote forests in Taiwan has documented an 84.1-metre Taiwania fir, reported as the tallest known tree in East Asia. Using airborne LiDAR, field expeditions and citizen review of map profiles, the project mapped 941 trees above 65 metres and identified dense old-growth stands. A separate valley survey reported very high forest carbon density, although its estimate excluded root systems.
Researchers from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, UC Berkeley and Estonia's National Institute of Chemical Physics and Biophysics observed carbon dioxide becoming solid carbon during molten-salt electrolysis. Their real-time measurements at 500°C identified an unexpected two-step reaction and found that the basic pathway remained consistent when electrode and salt materials changed. The work may help researchers tailor carbon products, including toward battery-grade graphite, but industrial production has not been demonstrated.
NICE has issued draft guidance recommending a four-year NHS evaluation of the XVIVO perfusion system for donated lungs. The system keeps lungs functioning outside the body so teams can monitor them and, in some cases, treat infection, remove fluid or reinflate collapsed areas before deciding on transplantation. NICE estimates it could help recover four in five donated lungs that are currently unused, though the estimate and value for money require evaluation.
A Taiwan-led study reports that Mandarin-speaking learners of English used different cues to distinguish two English vowel contrasts: chiefly duration for beat–bit and chiefly vowel quality for bat–bet. Those listening patterns were selectively associated with clearer production of the corresponding cue during imitation. The findings, published in Second Language Research, indicate that first-language sound categories can shape both how unfamiliar speech is heard and how it is reproduced.
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