In today’s Good News, a recent occupational therapy graduate creates a free six-week program that supports teenagers with Down syndrome as they leave school and embark on adulthood. And in Delhi, a ban on new gas-powered motorbikes and scooters aims to improve air quality in one of the world’s largest cities.

Catherine Garcia
The Week Digital

Researchers at the Mayo Clinic have mapped the pulvinar, deep in the brain’s thalamus, giving doctors a detailed look at this region so they can better treat patients with drug-resistant epilepsy. The team discovered that the pulvinar is not a “single, uniform structure,” and its “specialized regions” connect to different networks involved in vision, language, attention and memory, said the clinic. This knowledge will “provide a blueprint” for more precise electrode placement during deep-brain stimulation, an epilepsy treatment.

By sharing his story about being diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, Warren Shen inspired more than 8,000 people to join the National Marrow Donor Program. The 29-year-old posted a TikTok video to help him find his own donor, and the response was “incredible,” he told People. Of the new sign-ups, more than 5,000 are Asian American, a community “significantly underrepresented” in donor databases, the magazine said. To register, participants mail in a cheek swab.

A graduate school assignment has turned into an international program to help teens and young adults with Down syndrome build independence. While studying at Touro University Nevada, Sara Gudiel designed Empower, a curriculum for people who aged out of the public school system that teaches self-care and communication skills. Gudiel introduced Empower at the GiGi’s Playhouse Down Syndrome Achievement Center in Las Vegas, and it’s now part of the free offerings at every GiGi’s Playhouse in the U.S. and Mexico.

Delhi will phase out new gas-powered scooters, motorbikes and autorickshaws in favor of electric vehicles as part of an ambitious plan to tackle the city’s dangerously high levels of air pollution. The policy aims to electrify 30% of the Indian capital’s vehicle fleet by 2030, backed by more than 30,000 public charging points. Supporters say replacing millions of high-polluting vehicles with zero-emission alternatives could significantly improve air quality, public health and investment in green transport technology.

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