GoKawiilThousands of cities worldwide are nailing green growth without fossil fuels. Plus, why the common hormonal condition PCOS is now PMOS and how to vibe code in science.
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Chinese success in cutting NO 2 pollution might reflect the country’s approach to air quality, which includes the closure or relocation of polluting industries and the electrification of public transport, says environmental economist and study co-author Daniel Moran. (Deng Hua/Xinhau via Alamy)
Thousands of cities are decoupling economic growth from the burning of fossil fuels. Researchers compared levels of the greenhouse gas nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) with information on gross domestic product (GDP) to track the green development trajectories of more than 5,000 of the world’s biggest cities. About 2,000 cities showed improvement in both metrics between 2019 and 2024 — most of them in China.
Nature | 6 min read
Which cities made the list? Cleaner and richer The ten most populous cities successfully bringing down NO 2 while raising GDP per capita are: • Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing, China • Tokyo, Japan • Delhi (New Delhi), Mumbai and Kolkata, India • Dhaka, Bangladesh • Seoul, South Korea • Karachi, Pakistan On the other hand… Some of the “richer and dirtier” big cities that have seen per-capita GDP rise alongside NO 2 pollution: • Moscow, Russia • Tehran and Mashhad, Iran • Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Meanwhile, those getting “cleaner and poorer” include: • Kabul and Herat, Afghanistan • Beirut, Lebanon • Prague, Czech Republic
Almost 150 passengers and crew members on the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship MV Hondius have disembarked to return to their home countries, where they will quarantine. How each country deals with their isolation will differ, however, in part because transmission of the virus between people is poorly understood. Passengers from Spain, for example, will spend one week in quarantine at a military hospital, whilst those returning to the United Kingdom will be monitored for 72 hours in hospital, followed by a 45-day stint of isolation at home or at a facility.
Nature | 5 min read
Researchers and campaigners are celebrating a name change for polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) — now called polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS) — that reflects its primary effects on the endocrine system that regulates hormones. The condition affects around one in eight women but is commonly undiagnosed or misdiagnosed. It was given its former, misleading name in the 1930s because it can cause follicles in the ovaries that were mistaken for cysts. The new name “moves away from the incorrect focus on cysts … to recognizing this is a much broader condition”, says endocrinologist Helena Teede, who spearheaded the renaming effort.
The Guardian | 11 min read
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