Society
He spared millions of people from a debilitating parasite
Guinea worm, once a disease that plagued millions, now affects fewer than 20 people worldwide—an incredible transformation driven by Jimmy Carter’s tireless advocacy.

“I’d like the last Guinea worm to die before I do,” former US president Jimmy Carter told reporters in 2015. While Carter’s passing on December 29, 2024, came before this goal was fully realized, his extraordinary efforts have brought the world to the brink of achieving the unimaginable. Guinea worm, once a disease that plagued millions, now affects fewer than 20 people worldwide—an incredible transformation driven by Carter’s tireless advocacy. His unwavering dedication has not only changed the course of public health but has also made complete eradication a realistic, imminent goal.
In the mid-1980s, former US president and Nobel Prize-winning peacemaker Jimmy Carter’s life and legacy took a turn toward global health when he witnessed the damage caused by Guinea worm disease in rural Ghana. It was an encounter that would shape not only his post-presidency but also the lives of millions of people in some of the world’s poorest regions. As he toured the villages, Carter was confronted by a sight that would forever remain etched in his memory: children and adults alike suffering from the parasitic worms that emerge painfully through the skin, often causing severe physical and emotional distress.
“Once you’ve seen a small child with a two- or three-foot-long live Guinea worm protruding from her body, right through her skin, you never forget it,” Carter reflected in later years (An Hour Before Daylight: A Personal Journey, 2001). His commitment to eradicating this disease would become one of the defining aspects of his post-presidential work.
Carter’s focus on Guinea worm disease and his contributions to global health remain a commendable testament to the role of science and leadership in solving complex public health challenges. Guinea worm disease, also called Dracunculiasis, was a significant health crisis, affecting millions of people annually. It was estimated that around 3.5 million cases of this debilitating disease occurred worldwide each year, primarily in rural communities where access to clean water was scarce. Guinea worm, transmitted through contaminated water, is a parasitic infection that involves the slow emergence of long worms from the skin, causing excruciating pain. The cycle of infection was perpetuated by the human tendency to seek relief by submerging affected body parts in water, inadvertently facilitating the worms’ reproduction.

In 1982, the former president and the former first lady Rosalynn Carter established the Carter Center, a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing human rights and improving public health worldwide. Just four years later, in 1986, the organization launched a determined initiative to eliminate Guinea worm disease. This initiative came at a critical moment when the World Health Organization (WHO) set its sights on eradicating the disease globally. The disease’s grip on affected regions demanded a multifaceted approach, and Carter’s leadership brought together political will, scientific expertise, and on-the-ground action to begin a comprehensive campaign against the parasitic threat, along with WHO.
The Carter Center’s strategy was simple yet revolutionary: improve access to clean water, educate communities about prevention, and mobilize local governments and international bodies to take action. One of the key interventions was the provision of filtration devices, called “poultices”, that helped people avoid ingesting copepods, the tiny fleas responsible for spreading the parasite. By ensuring that people had access to clean drinking water, Carter’s team was able to significantly reduce the cycle of infection, ultimately breaking the transmission chain of the parasite.

Carter’s ability to mobilize global resources and create lasting partnerships made Guinea worm disease one of the most successful examples of disease eradication in history. Under his guidance, the incidence of Guinea worm disease plummeted from 3.5 million cases in the 1980s to just 13 reported cases in 2022, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The disease, which had once ravaged communities across parts of Africa and Asia, was now on the verge of becoming only the second human disease in history, after smallpox, to be fully eradicated.
Sharon Roy and Vitaliano Cama, scientists at the CDC who worked closely with the Carter Center, have consistently praised Carter’s leadership. “Carter’s bold vision, leadership, and ability to create political will for supporting Guinea worm eradication in affected countries were instrumental in this success,” Cama remarked (Carter Center, 2022). The fight against Guinea worm disease continues today, but the almost complete eradication of the parasite is a reflection of Carter’s unyielding dedication to improving the health of the world’s most vulnerable populations.
This extraordinary public health achievement is not just a victory for science, but a lasting mark to the power of compassionate leadership in advancing global health. Carter’s work with the Guinea worm eradication program is often cited as one of the most effective and far-reaching scientific interventions of the 20th century. His legacy demonstrates that when science is combined with moral vision and political resolve, great change is possible—even in the most challenging circumstances.
Jimmy Carter passed away on December 29, 2023, in Plains, Georgia, at the age of 99, after entering hospice care earlier in the year. His death marked the end of a remarkable life dedicated to public service, humanitarian causes, and advancing global health. Alongside his wife, Rosalynn Carter, who passed away in November 2023, Jimmy Carter left an indelible mark on global health, using his platform to better the lives of those in need.
The nearly eradicated Guinea worm disease stands as one of the greatest successes in the field of public health. As we pay tribute to the late president, it is clear that his scientific interventions and humanitarian work will continue to inspire efforts to combat disease, poverty, and suffering for generations to come. Through his vision and the ongoing work of the Carter Center, Jimmy Carter’s legacy in the world of science and global health will remain an enduring example of the positive impact one individual can have on the lives of millions.
Reference:
- Carter, Jimmy. An Hour Before Daylight: A Personal Journey. 2001.
- Vitaliano Cama and Sharon Roy, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Global Guinea Worm Eradication Efforts and Achievements.” Carter Center, 2022.
(The article first appeared in the February 2025 edition of EdPublica magazine)
Earth
In ancient India, mushy earth made for perfume scent
Kannauj, a city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, offers a sustainable alternative in producing perfumes using traditional modes of distillation.

A sweet scent typically lingers around in the air at Kannauj, an ancient city in India’s most populous state of Uttar Pradesh. It’s an imprint of the countless occasions when it had rained, of roses that bloomed at dawn, and of sandalwood trees that once breathed centuries of calm.. Though mushy smells are not unique to Kannauj, the city utilized traditional distillation methods to make perfume out of these earthly scents.
Kannauj has had a longstanding tradition in perfume-making since four centuries ago. The city, colloquially known as the country’s ancient perfume capital, still uses rustic copper stills, wood-fired ovens, and bamboo pipes leading to sandalwood oil-filled vessels, or attar as it is colloquially known, to make their perfume. Though it gives a pre-industrial look, a closer peek would reveal an ecosystem of complex thermal regulation, plant chemistry, sustainability science, and hydro-distillation chemistry at work.
When synthetically-made but sustainable perfumes, and AI-generated ones share the spotlight today, Kannauj’s tryst with perfumes offer an alternative, sustainable model in traditional distillation, which is inherently low-carbon, zero-waste, and follow principles of a circular economy; all in alignment with sustainable development goals.
Traditional perfume-making is naturally sustainable
In industrial processing, hydro-distillation is a commonly done to separate substances with different boiling points. Heating the liquids produce vapors, which can later be liquefied in a separate chamber. Perfumers in Kannauj follow the same practice, except it promises to be more sustainable with the copper stills, a process colloquially known as dheg-bhakpa hydro-distillation.
There’s no alcohol or synthetic agents in use. Instead, they heat up raw botanicals – such as roses, vetiver roots, jasmine, or even sunbaked clay – to precise temperatures well short of burning, thereby producing fragrant vapor. The vapors are then guided into cooling chambers, where they condense and bond with a natural fixative, often sandalwood oil. Plant residue is the only byproduct, which finds use as organic compost to cultivate another generation of crops.

Trapping earthly scent to make perfume
In the past five years, Kannauj’s veteran perfumers noticed a quiet, but steady shift in their timely harvest and produce. Rose harvests have moved earlier by weeks. Vetiver roots grow shallower due to erratic rainfall. Jasmine yields are fluctuating wildly. The local Ganges river, which influences humidity levels essential for distillation timing, is no longer as predictable. For an entire natural aromatic economy built on seasonal synchrony, this uncertainty has rung alarm bells.
“The scent of a flower depends not just on the flower itself,” Vipin Dixit, a third-generation attar-maker whose family has distilled fragrance for decades, said to EdPublica.
“It depends on the weather the night before, on the heat at sunrise, on the moisture in the air. Even the soil has a scent-memory.”

As a result, perfumers in Kannauj have begun to adapt, applying traditional wisdom through a modern scientific lens. Local distillers are now working with botanists and environmental scientists to study soil microbiomes, measure scent compounds using chromatography, and develop community-based rainwater harvesting to ensure sustainable crop health.
One of the most surprising innovations is trapping petrichor — the scent of first rain — through earth attars. Clay is baked during extreme heat waves, mimicking summer conditions, then distilled to trap the scent of rain hitting dry soil. This aroma, called mitti attar, is one of the few scents in the world created from an environmental phenomenon; and not a flower.
At a time when the world is scrambling to save biodiversity, the humble attar may become a template for green chemistry — one that doesn’t just preserve scent, but also restores the relationship between science, nature, and soul.
Society
How Scientists and Investigators Decode Air Crashes — The Black Box and Beyond
The final report may take months, but it will be critical in issuing safety directives or revising standard procedures.

As rescue and recovery operations continue following the June 12, 2025, plane crash in Ahmedabad, aviation safety experts are now focusing on the technical investigation phase. With 241 lives lost, the search for the cause isn’t just about accountability—it’s about prevention.
The Black Box: Aviation’s Memory Keeper
1. What Is the Black Box?
Despite the name, the black box is actually orange — for visibility. It consists of two components:
- Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR): Captures conversations and audio from the flight deck.
- Flight Data Recorder (FDR): Logs dozens to hundreds of parameters — speed, altitude, engine status, control inputs.
These devices are housed in titanium or steel and can withstand:
- Temperatures above 1,000°C
- Underwater pressures up to 20,000 feet
- Crashes with up to 3,600 G-force
They also emit underwater locator beacons for up to 30 days.
2. Forensic Engineering & Flight Reconstruction
Beyond black boxes, investigators use:
- Radar data and air traffic control logs
- Wreckage analysis for structural failure clues
- Satellite-based tracking systems like ADS-B
- Weather data for turbulence or wind shear insights
Forensic teams often reconstruct the flight path virtually or even physically using recovered debris to determine failure points.
3. Human Factors & AI in Modern Investigation
New tools like machine learning and human factors analysis are used to identify procedural errors or lapses in judgement.
In many modern investigations, AI helps:
- Filter large datasets (e.g., over 1,000 flight parameters per second)
- Detect patterns missed by the human eye
- Predict similar risk scenarios in future flights
What Happens Next in the Ahmedabad Crash?
Authorities, in coordination with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), are likely:
- Retrieving and analyzing the black box
- Interviewing air traffic controllers
- Reconstructing the aircraft’s final seconds using both data and simulation
The final report may take months, but it will be critical in issuing safety directives or revising standard procedures.
Society
Researchers Unveil Light-Speed AI Chip to Power Next-Gen Wireless and Edge Devices
This could transform the future of wireless communication and edge computing

In a breakthrough that could transform the future of wireless communication and edge computing, engineers at MIT have developed a novel AI hardware accelerator capable of processing wireless signals at the speed of light. The new optical chip, built for signal classification, achieves nanosecond-level performance—up to 100 times faster than conventional digital processors—while consuming dramatically less energy.
With wireless spectrum under growing strain from billions of connected devices, from teleworking laptops to smart sensors, managing bandwidth has become a critical challenge. Artificial intelligence offers a path forward, but most existing AI models are too slow and power-hungry to operate in real time on wireless devices.
The MIT solution, known as MAFT-ONN (Multiplicative Analog Frequency Transform Optical Neural Network), could be a game-changer.
“There are many applications that would be enabled by edge devices that are capable of analyzing wireless signals,” said Prof. Dirk Englund, senior author of the study, in a media statement. “What we’ve presented in our paper could open up many possibilities for real-time and reliable AI inference. This work is the beginning of something that could be quite impactful.”
Published in Science Advances, the research describes how MAFT-ONN classifies signals in just 120 nanoseconds, using a compact optical chip that performs deep-learning tasks using light rather than electricity. Unlike traditional systems that convert signals to images before processing, the MIT design processes raw wireless data directly in the frequency domain—eliminating delays and reducing energy usage.
“We can fit 10,000 neurons onto a single device and compute the necessary multiplications in a single shot,” said Ronald Davis III, lead author and recent MIT PhD graduate.
The device achieved over 85% accuracy in a single shot, and with multiple measurements, it converges to above 99% accuracy, making it both fast and reliable.
Beyond wireless communications, the technology holds promise for edge AI in autonomous vehicles, smart medical devices, and future 6G networks, where real-time response is critical. By embedding ultra-fast AI directly into devices, this innovation could help cars react to hazards instantly or allow pacemakers to adapt to a patient’s heart rhythm in real-time.
Future work will focus on scaling the chip with multiplexing schemes and expanding its ability to handle more complex AI tasks, including transformer models and large language models (LLMs).
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