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2023 environment, women and science - 27th December 2023

The environment was an important topic in 2023. People made some new rules on Norway’s Svalbard islands. They want eco-friendly tourism. Transport makes a lot of CO2. And climate change is melting the ice.

Børre Haugli: "The tourist industry themself in Svalbard want to have sustainable industry and they develop themself into more sustainable activities."

There was news about famous women from the past. In Italy, experts cleaned an old painting by Artemisia Gentileschi. She was a woman painter in the 17th century. She earned a lot of money. This was unusual. Then, only men were artists.

Linda Falcone: "She had to know how to market herself, and that's what she's actually doing with the painting because not only is she tributing Michelangelo but she's saying, 'I as a woman have the inclination to paint'."

In New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern left her job as prime minister. Ardern became the country’s leader in 2017. She was 37 years old. She had a baby a year later. Many people say she was a good prime minister.

Lia Correa: "I think she'll leave behind a really good legacy, cause like, she's a woman prime minister who kicked ass. She was awesome. She did everything she could during the pandemic. Kept a lot of people safe. Yeah, I think she's gonna have a great legacy."

In Gabon, smart cameras helped elephants. This technology’s keeping the animals safe.

Thijs Suijten: "And this minicomputer downloads the images from the camera and then uses artificial intelligence to automatically classify whether there is an animal, an elephant or human on the photo."

On Earth Day, Extinction Rebellion and other environment groups went onto the streets in London. They wanted the government to listen. They want rules to save the environment.

There were celebrations in London too. King Charles III became Britain’s new monarch. Many people travelled to London to be part of the coronation day events.

In Mexico, scientists are studying a special type of disease – ‘zoonoses’. These diseases can move from animals into people. The scientists want to stop another pandemic like Covid.

Musicians and space scientists don't often work together. But a US national orchestra and NASA made a new piece of art about space. Its name is 'Cosmic Cycles'. Cosmic Cycles uses music and pictures from a space telescope. Henry Dehlinger wrote the music.

Henry Dehlinger: "I think the music written for a lot of those space movies, space films are, is, is fantastic. But what we're seeing tonight at this premiere is not science fiction. It's the actual science. It's the real deal. We're actually looking at the Sun. We're actually looking at the solar system. We're actually looking at the origins of the universe."