Things aren't as bad as they seem.

Glass Half Full, founded by Franziska Trautmann and based in Chalmette near New Orleans, collects tens of thousands of pounds of glass weekly from Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, crushing it into sand used to rebuild eroding marshland. Louisiana loses a football field of land every 100 minutes.

New Orleans party bottles become sand for Louisiana’s vanishing coastline

New Orleans party bottles become sand for Louisiana’s vanishing coastline

20.07.2026

Heading layer

New Orleans party bottles become sand for Louisiana’s vanishing coastline

18.07.2026

Brain implant lets paralyzed man feed himself after three-year trial

A "double neural bypass" developed at New York's Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research has restored hand movement and touch sensation in a man with complete tetraplegia. Over three years, Keith Thomas — paralyzed from the chest down since a 2020 diving accident — regained enough arm strength to feed himself and drink from a cup.

18.07.2026

New deepfake detector reaches 95% accuracy by reading facial expressions

Researchers have developed a deepfake detection method that reads the naturalness of facial expressions rather than searching for visual glitches. Tested on standard benchmark datasets, it achieved over 95% accuracy and caught manipulations that defeated most existing detectors.

18.07.2026

Scientists generate electricity from humid air using cigarette filters and dead batteries

A flexible, paper-thin generator, built entirely from waste materials — wild sugarcane stalks, discarded cigarette filters, carbon paste from spent dry-cell batteries, table salt, and aluminum foil. One single unit generates up to 1.16 volts at 65% humidity; four units in series powered a small LED for over three hours without a capacitor.

18.07.2026

Greece’s former prison island is now a monk seal stronghold

Gyaros, an Aegean island sealed off for decades as a political prison and naval firing range, has become the largest known Mediterranean monk seal colony, with around 70 adults. Between 2015 and 2023, illegal fishing by amateurs fell 57% and by professionals 85% and a presidential decree gave it the highest level of legal protection in April 2026.

18.07.2026

Maasai and Samburu musicians use social media to reclaim their culture

Improved internet access and affordable smartphones have enabled a new generation of Maasai and Samburu musicians in Kenya to bring their music to social media, blending traditional Maa-language songs with modern genres like Amapiano and Bongo Flava. The movement is also countering cultural loss: as one singer put it, "If we don't update our roots, our songs will be forgotten, and the community will forget about their customs."

15.07.2026

A new border deal reshapes daily life between Spain and Gibraltar

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15.07.2026

Solar becomes the EU’s largest source of electricity for a month

Solar panels generated a record 52 TWh of electricity across the European Union in June, supplying 25% of the bloc’s power for the first time. Solar outpaced nuclear, gas, wind and hydropower as installations continued to expand, with 18 countries setting new records for their share of solar generation in 2026.

15.07.2026

Turkish court halts coal plant expansion over health concerns

A Turkish court has canceled environmental approval for two new units at the Afşin-Elbistan A coal plant after finding the assessment failed to adequately examine risks to public health, farmland, water resources and ecosystems. The ruling requires stronger environmental review before major projects move forward.

15.07.2026

Oxford begins the world’s first human trial of a Bundibugyo Ebola vaccine

The University of Oxford's Vaccine Group has launched a Phase I trial testing safety and immune response in 50 healthy adults aged 18–55, as the Bundibugyo outbreak spreads across Congo and Uganda. As of July 11, Congo reported 1,926 cases and 702 deaths across five provinces; Uganda confirmed 20 cases and two deaths.

15.07.2026

Tech coalition targets illegal wildlife trade with AI and blockchain

Leading technology, crypto and payments companies have joined a new initiative to disrupt the illegal wildlife trade, which the UN estimates generates up to $23 billion each year. The coalition will use AI to detect illegal online listings, blockchain analytics to trace financial flows, and public awareness campaigns to reduce trafficking.

15.07.2026

Porto makes all public transit free for residents

As of July 11, 2026, residents of Porto, Portugal's second city, can ride the metro, STCP and Unir buses, urban CP trains, trams, and river boats at no cost. Mayor Pedro Duarte, who campaigned on the measure, says the city will cover the €20–25 million annual bill partly by raising the tourist tax from €3 to €4.

12.07.2026

Catnip lotion matches DEET as mosquito repellent in Uganda field trials

In trials conducted in eastern Uganda, a lotion made from catnip oil performed as well as the active chemical ingredient currently used in mosquito repellent , offering a low-cost, natural solution to ward off disease-spreading mosquitoes. A 6% catnip oil formulation matched the standard 15% DEET lotion; a 2% version was only marginally less effective. Malaria infects around 282 million people annually.

12.07.2026

A Mexico City café turns into a free coffee stop for World Cup losers

During the 2026 World Cup, the Compay Café in Mexico City's La Condesa neighborhood transformed into the Losers Café: after every match, the losing team's flag hung outside, while dairy-free coffee was offered inside, along with napkins printed with "dry your tears". With nearly 50 teams competing and only one winner, the concept has plenty of customers.

12.07.2026

Greece deploys four nanosatellites to detect wildfires from orbit

Four EU-funded nanosatellites, each smaller than a carry-on bag, entered low Earth orbit in May, making Greece the first country to operate a satellite constellation dedicated solely to wildfire detection. Thermal sensors identify fires as small as four metres across — far smaller than what conventional satellites can see — with AI processing the images and sending real-time alerts to firefighters every hour.

12.07.2026

Mississippi program gives Black single moms $1,000 a month — and it works

Since 2018, the Magnolia Mother's Trust in Jackson, Mississippi, has provided Black mothers on low incomes with $1,000 a month for 12 months, no conditions attached. The program targets this group specifically because, as founder Aisha Nyandoro explains, data shows Black mothers in Jackson face the greatest economic disadvantage — a direct result of longstanding policy and systemic inequality.

12.07.2026

Giraffes can do basic addition, a new study finds

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12.07.2026

Portugal’s first elephant sanctuary opens in Alentejo with last circus elephant

Julie, Africa-born elephant kept captive in a Portuguese circus since 1988, has become the first resident of Pangea — a 400-hectare sanctuary in the Alentejo region that presents itself as Europe's first large-scale elephant refuge. Captured in the wild roughly 40 years ago, she is also the last wild animal held by any circus in Portugal, following the country's 2018 ban that took full effect in 2024.

08.07.2026

Barbershops boost therapy at a Kenyan psychiatric hospital

At Mathari Hospital in Nairobi, visiting barbers offer free haircuts to male psychiatric patients as a novel therapeutic approach. Healthcare workers note that restoring personal grooming dramatically improves self-esteem and clinical engagement, reversing the self-neglect often caused by severe depression.