🌞 The first wheelchair user in space

I’m so thrilled to be back in your inboxes in 2026. With the end of last year marked by such horror and tragedy, I’ve been craving my good news fix.

To kick us off, what was some good news from over your break? I’d love to hear! Hit reply to this email and let me know.

In a world-first, stingless bees have been granted legal rights in Santipo, a Peruvian town.

One of the oldest bee species, the Santipo bee is responsible for pollinating 80% of flora in the Amazon.

Following collaboration with Indigenous leaders and environmental advocates, they’ve become the first insect with formally recognised rights.

According to the Earth Law Centre, the reform recognises the species’ right to exist and thrive, maintain healthy populations, be legally represented in cases of threat or harm and have a healthy, pollution-free habitat.

Are you a shower singer? Do you love singing but know you’re probably not going to win any ARIA awards?

Same.

Luckily, there’s a community for people like us.

Tuneless choirs are for “people who love singing but lack the ability, practice or confidence to do so.” They’re all over the UK - and even have a ten-year celebration coming up in February.

This week, they launched in Langford and Sidney, two towns in Canada. The rehearsals were a resounding success, with over 100 founding members turning up.

Just because they’re ‘tuneless,’ doesn’t mean they sound bad - in fact, they sing with joyful energy and passion. Have a listen to one choir’s performance here.

Who wants to start a tuneless choir in Sydney?

This account comes with a glowing recommendation from TDA’s multimedia journalist Elliot, who had this to say:

“@happilyheiferafter is an animal sanctuary based in Queensland that rescues farm animals to give them a long and happy life. It warms my heart every time I open my feed and see one of the videos and you get to know the cast of characters very well. I've learnt so much about the beautiful and complex social dynamics of the greatest animals ever - cows. It's my dream to go visit them one day - so if anyone is looking to buy me a gift…” 

Duly noted.

German engineer Michaela Benthaus became the first wheelchair user to go to space late last year, as part of a program run by Blue Origin.

In a Blue Origin video, Benthaus said she hopes the future of accessible spaceflights speeds up.

While ticket prices were not revealed, it’s reported that former SpaceX executive, Hans Koenigsmann, helped organise and sponsor her trip.

Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute have helped develop a new toothpaste that targets the bad oral bacteria linked to gum disease, without eliminating the good bacteria in your mouth.

The breakthrough centres on a newly identified substance with a name only a chemist could love, which blocks periodontitis-causing pathogens while leaving beneficial bacteria alone. Even better, it helps those good bacteria spread, supporting a healthier oral microbiome overall.

Here’s why it matters: Chronic gum disease has been linked to conditions beyond your teeth, including diabetes and arthritis.

The tech came out of an EU-funded project and is now being commercialised by a pharmaceutical company. Your future dentist might be very into this!

It’s no secret that TDA loves a good cafe (coffee is literally our logo), so when I found this snippet of good news, I had to share it with you.

Meet the Woodstock Cafe: A deaf-operated cafe in the U.S. state of Oregon. According to The Oregonian, the cafe is “quaint, music-less and decorated with love” and primarily operates in American Sign Language (ASL) It also caters to non-ASL speakers through a live-transcribing system. 

Owned by CymaSpace, a non-profit organisation, the cafe isn’t just for coffee - it’s also for community. It hosts events, including a ‘Sign Squad’ that practises ASL every week, ASL trivia nights and knitting nights.

Love!!!

Finally, let’s wrap up this newsletter with an incredible technological discovery. Researchers from MIT and Microsoft are using AI to design tiny molecular sensors that could detect cancer before symptoms even show up.

The team has built an AI model that designs peptides, which are small protein molecules, that react to enzymes known to be overactive in cancer cells. Those peptides can be coated onto microscopic particles. If the cancer-linked enzyme is present, the particles release a signal that can be detected in urine.

Because different cancers involve different enzymes, the approach could one day help doctors identify not just if cancer is present, but what kind. According to MIT professor Sangeeta Bhatia, the goal is “ultra-sensitive detection” when tumour size is still very small. Earlier detection usually means earlier treatment and better outcomes.