Doomslayer: Progress Roundup

Oct 26, 2025

Scientists in the UK have developed the world’s first vaccine for elephant herpesvirus, a disease that kills many young Asian elephants. In tests at Chester Zoo, the vaccine triggered strong immune responses without observed side effects. Researchers now plan to test it in elephant calves and wild populations.
In 2023, Hurricane Idalia scattered hundreds of flamingos across the eastern US. Recent surveys suggest that some of those lost birds may have founded a permanent colony in Florida.
The North Atlantic right whale population has grown about 7 percent since 2020, a small but welcome turnaround after falling roughly 25 percent during the 2010s.
Deforestation continues to slow down. According to a new report from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the world lost 10.9 million hectares of forest each year over the past decade, down from 13.6 million between 2000 and 2015, and 17.6 million between 1990 and 2000.

A startup in Utah has developed a more sustainable way to collect lithium. Using proprietary ceramic beads, Lilac Solutions can extract highly pure lithium while recycling nearly all the water it uses. Their technology, which they plan to license, could boost US lithium supplies without straining scarce water resources in the arid West.
Omar Yaghi, who recently won a Nobel Prize in chemistry for his work developing metal-organic frameworks, is about to start manufacturing atmospheric water harvesters through his startup Atoco. The machines, expected to debut next year, will use metal-organic frameworks to pull moisture directly from the atmosphere at a rate of 1,000 liters per day.

Food & Hunger

Researchers at the University of Maryland have identified a gene that makes wheat grow three grains per flower instead of one, potentially unlocking new higher-yielding cultivars.
Scientists at the Roslin Institute in Scotland have created gene-edited pigs resistant to classical swine fever, a deadly disease endemic in many major hog-producing countries. The edited pigs stayed healthy when exposed to the virus and showed no adverse effects over multiple generations.
A new essay in Asimov Press describes how Nigeria, once wary of genetically modified crops, has become a regional leader in agricultural technology. In 2019, their regulators approved Bt cowpea, followed by insect- and drought-resistant corn in 2024. Several more GM crops are in the pipeline, including a more nitrogen-efficient rice and nutritionally fortified cassava. There’s a lot more information about agricultural innovation in the developing world in the article, which I highly recommend reading:

In Malawi, a UK-based nonprofit has deployed an AI chatbot that can speak the local language of Chichewa and give useful information to farmers via WhatsApp. In a profile of the technology, multiple farmers describe how the chatbot’s advice saved their crops from pests and poorly suited agricultural chemicals. This story reflects a wider proliferation of cheap, localized AI tools as costly frontier research in wealthy countries makes language models affordable for the rest of the world.

According to a recent report from the World Health Organization, the number of people suffering from neglected tropical diseases fell from 1.9 billion in 1990 to around 1 billion in 2021.
Relatedly, Fiji was just verified by the WHO for eliminating trachoma.
There’s more evidence that GLP-1 drugs have heart benefits that go beyond weight loss. A new analysis of the landmark SELECT trial of semaglutide found that only around a third of the 20 percent reduction in heart attacks and strokes among people taking semaglutide could be explained by reductions in waist circumference.
The results of the clinical trial of Science Corporation’s PRIMA eye implant have now been published. According to the paper, 80 percent of the 38 participants suffering from advanced macular degeneration showed meaningful improvement in their vision, allowing them to read text, recognize shapes, and perform daily tasks that were previously impossible.
Two years after receiving an experimental gene therapy, a formerly congenitally deaf toddler can hear without her cochlear implant.

Thailand has given Burmese refugees permission to seek work outside their camps, a step toward self-reliance and the freedom, opportunity, and dignity that come with it.

Using a new algorithm, Google’s quantum computer ran a molecular simulation about 13,000 times as fast as the best supercomputers. The experiment, which was recently published in Nature, shows how quantum computers might one day help design new drugs or materials.
In some quintessentially Japanese news, a Tokyo-based startup is using remotely operated robots to help ease the aging and immigration-averse country’s labor shortage. The machines—which are mostly autonomous with backup pilots in Manila—stock shelves in over 300 convenience stores across the city.
Amazon’s efforts to automate its warehouses appear to be bearing fruit. Internal documents reviewed by The New York Times suggest that Amazon executives believe their new robots will allow the company to sell twice as many products by 2033 without expanding its human workforce. The documents also claim that by 2027, Amazon’s increasingly automated system will save customers about 30 cents per item.
Amazon’s delivery drones are back up and running after a two-month hiatus and, according to an Amazon spokesperson, are experiencing “unprecedented levels of demand.”
Have you looked at the Starlink connection map recently? Their service now covers almost all of the Americas and Europe, and a rapidly growing share of Africa and Asia. Universal internet connection will be here before you know it. They also recently launched their 10,000th satellite.

Kazakhstan has fully criminalized “wife-stealing,” the practice of abducting women for forced marriage. Previously, the aspiring bridegroom could avoid criminal penalties by returning the victim voluntarily. Great success!