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Five real advances in science, medicine, technology, and the environment, each verified against the original reporting. In this episode: A two-year treatment targeting SCN2A-related epilepsy mutations reduced seizures and enabled a teenager to; Global hunger fell below 8% of the population for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, continuing a; Mark Scotch donated a kidney to a stranger in late 2020 through a voucher scheme kidney exchange program; More than 160 Maasai warriors in northern Tanzania are working as lion guardians through African People and; Community-based aging support services like medical transportation, meal delivery, and social activities.
Five Things Going Right is a daily five-minute podcast covering real, verifiable progress in science, medicine, technology, and the environment. Every weekday, hosts Grace and Josh walk through five stories that actually happened, each checked against the original reporting from sources like the WHO, the IEA, Nature, and university research. A calm, fact-grounded start to your day. New episodes every weekday morning.
Welcome! This is 5 Things Going Right, the news that's actually good. 5 stories, 5 minutes, all of them true. Hi everyone, I'm Grace. Today is Friday, July 31st, 2026. And I'm Josh. We've got some interesting stories lined up for you today. Let's get started. Researchers at the University of California, San Diego have been working on a treatment for a rare form of childhood epilepsy. It's called developmental epileptic encephalopathy, and it's linked to SCN2A mutations. That's right. This two-year treatment targets the proteins produced by these mutations. The results are promising, with reduced seizures and developmental gains. In one case, a teenager was even able to walk independently. It's important to note, though, that this report focuses on a single-case outcome. It doesn't provide overall efficacy rates or long-term developmental impacts. Some positive news. Global hunger has decreased for the third year in a row. For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, the percentage of the global population facing malnourishment has dropped below 8%. The largest reductions were seen in Central Asia. However, the report doesn't provide a pre-pandemic baseline for comparison. In 2020, Mark Scotch, who was 64 at the time, met Hugh Smith, then 56, in a bar in Louisiana. Smith was on dialysis and waiting for a kidney transplant. Scotch offered to donate one of his kidneys through a voucher scheme kidney exchange program. He donated to a stranger, and in return, Smith received priority on the transplant waitlist. This is a remarkable individual case, but it doesn't reflect the broader scale or success rates of kidney exchange programs. In northern Tanzania, over 160 Maasai warriors are now working as lion guardians through the organization African People and Wildlife. This program adapts the Maasai tradition of courage, encouraging warriors to help people and lions coexist, rather than hunt them. While the account describes the training and deployment of these guardians, it doesn't report on whether lion killings have decreased or if lion populations have improved. Finally, U.S. Aging, a national advocacy organization, is promoting the idea of supporting older adults to stay engaged in their communities. Sandy Markwood, the CEO, highlights services like medical transportation, meal delivery, and social activities. These are aimed at helping older adults live with dignity, independence, and purpose. The piece presents this concept, but it doesn't include data on how widely these services are adopted or their outcomes. That's all for today's stories. Thanks for joining us. We appreciate you listening. Until next time. That's it for today. That was 5 things going right. Come back tomorrow for 5 more.