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My wife had a year of maternity leave, and I was about to leave my full-time job to start a company that would allow me to work from anywhere (at least during the setup phase).

So, we set out with the very loose, rather ambitious goal of visiting 10 countries with our daughter before her first birthday.

As soon as we'd registered her birth and taken a semi-adequate photo of her, we applied for an infant passport. She was about 14 days old at this point.

We waited until she was a month old, and then our journey began.

Our travels got off to a great start, especially when we stuck to short flights

We started off easy by booking a single night at an inn in the English countryside just over an hour's drive from our house. Before traveling further, we wanted to prove to ourselves that we could stay in a hotel with an infant and live to tell the tale.

With the exception of a little spit up on an expensive velvet green sofa, the stay was a success. We even managed to squeeze in a tasty al-fresco lunch while the baby slept in her pram, and a much-needed massage for my wife just before we checked out.

The next big challenge was trying to fly with a baby — something we were rather anxious about.

When she was 2 months old, we boarded a roughly two-hour flight from London to Pisa, Italy. It was surprisingly easy, as she slept pretty much the whole way. My wife fed her during takeoff and landing to help our daughter's ears adjust to the pressure.

After realizing relatively short flights were a sweet spot, we booked a trip from London to the Isle of Man to introduce our little one to some of our friends and family. The hourlong flight was a breeze, and we stayed with my mum after we landed.

In October, we traveled to the island of Mallorca in Spain's Balearic Islands. Again, the short flight — just under three hours — wasn't bad.

For all of these flights, we also saved money by needing only two plane tickets instead of three, since our baby could sit on one of our laps. Packing a few essentials also really helped us make these trips smoother.

A blackout bassinet cover, for example, allowed our little one to sleep in complete darkness in her pram on the brightest of days, while a portable sound machine blocked out the background noise.

On our longest trip yet, our luck seemed to run out

After a few successful holidays around Europe, we decided to embark on a big trip to Australia, which is on the other side of the world from our home in the UK. The trip spanned five weeks and took place when our daughter was about 8 months old.

The first leg of the journey from London to Singapore — a 13-hour overnight flight — was an absolute nightmare. We'd booked business-class seats with our air miles in the hope we'd be able to get some sleep.

But when we boarded the plane, the bassinet the airline provided for our daughter was more like a car seat than a cot or crib, and we couldn't put a blackout cover on it for safety reasons.

We instantly knew she wasn't going to sleep well, and we were right. It was a grim flight, and we were all very ready to rush off the plane when we arrived in Singapore. Except, we couldn't.

A huge rainstorm descended on Singapore's famous Changi Airport just as we prepared to land, and plans changed.

We circled once or twice, and then the pilot told us he was diverting the plane to Kuala Lumpur. The weather in the area meant a bumpy ride, so the seatbelt signs were on, and our daughter was on my wife's lap.

We sat on the tarmac at Kuala Lumpur for an hour or so, waited for the weather to pass, and then returned to Singapore.

The 13-hour flight turned out to be more like 17 hours long — and there may have been a nappy malfunction at some point, but I'll spare you the details.

Thankfully, the rest of the trip was much smoother.

In Singapore, we went to a Jurassic Park exhibition at the iconic Cloud Forest, wandered around the famous Raffles hotel, took a river cruise, and visited the vast Aquarium on Sentosa Island.

In Australia, we visited Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne. We loved seeing our daughter get to know the local wildlife and play with our friends and family.

Our flight home was via Doha with Qatar Airways. We used air miles, meaning we could afford to fly business on the 14-hour leg from Melbourne to Doha.

It was much smoother than the other long flights we've taken. And by the time we got home, we were ready to keep traveling.

We ended her first year of life with 8 countries

We were on track to hit 11 countries by the time our daughter turned 1 until global conflicts led us to cancel one of our longer trips. So although we didn't technically hit our target of 10 countries, we were close.

Traveling so extensively is challenging for an infant, but we're hoping she'll thank us for all the passport stamps one day — she's got far more than other babies we know.

We're keen for her to grow up meeting people from as many different ethnicities, cultures, and countries as possible. And although she won't remember any of these trips, we certainly will.

These travels were hard at times, and some parts of them were pure chaos, but we'd do it all again. Perhaps we'll be able to see 20 countries with her by the time she's 2.

I expect we'll do less long-haul travel between the ages of 1 and 3, though, since our daughter is running around a lot more. It's hard to imagine trying to contain her for any longer than a couple of hours.

That said, we already plan to fly to St. Lucia in economy in January and to travel to Australia for a wedding in 2028. So if anyone has any tips on getting through flights with toddlers, I'm all ears.

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Sam Shead

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Sam was a Senior Technology Reporter for Business Insider UK.Previously he worked as Startups and Innovation Editor for Techworld, based in London, and The Daily Mail. His writing has also appeared in The Telegraph, The Guardian, The Independent, City A.M., and elsewhere. He has also appeared on the BBC, Sky News, Al Jazeera, Channel 5, Reuters TV, and spoken on Russia Today and Shares Radio. In 2015, Sam was shortlisted for Technology Journalist of the Year by the UK Tech Awards and in 2016 Sam was nominated as one of the 30 young journalists to watch by MHP Communications.Follow Sam on Twitter: @sam_l_shead 

• Travel
• Essay

Still untitled, the documentary follows Panamanian Jaime Alemán, a lawyer, diplomat, businessman and one of the world’s most accomplished travelers.

Alemán is the first human in history to have completed the Triple Grand Slam of Travel, visiting all 193 countries recognized by the United Nations, trekking to both the North and South Poles and traveling to space. He became the first Panamanian to reach space when he flew on Blue Origin’s New Shepard NS-32 suborbital mission last year. Now 72, he´s been travelling since he was 18.

Junge, who last collaborated with Benaim on his 2026 docu “Tropical Paradise,” expressed delight to be working with Benaim again. “Jaime Alemán is a larger-than-life character, and his extraordinary journey offers a fascinating glimpse into what happens when a passion for exploring the world (and beyond) is taken to its ultimate extreme,” he said. “Tropical Paradise” won the Audience Award at the Panama Film Festival last April.

Added Benaim: “At first glance, it’s an extraordinary travel story: one man, all 193 countries, the poles, space and the journeys still to come. But for me, that’s just the vehicle. The real journey is inward. It’s about Jaime’s psyche, his vulnerability, his fears (and how he overcomes them), and what drives someone to keep moving. Because the story is still unfolding, the filmmaking itself becomes part of that search. As we follow Jaime around the world, we’re also asking a universal question: what gives a life purpose?”

Benaim and his crew will follow Aleman as he sets out on what may be his most extraordinary expedition yet: a journey to one of the most remote inhabited places on Earth, Tristan Da Cunha, which can be reached on a five-day voyage over rough seas.

“We already shot in the Azores, Brazil, Toronto and Panama, and will be shooting shortly in Bangkok, Bhutan and Pakistan,” Benaim told Variety who added that the trip to Tristan da Cunha, which lies about 1,500 miles west of Cape Town, South Africa, is slated for April next year.

Alemán is also aiming to visit the coldest and hottest places on earth, Oymyakon and Death Valley, respectively, according to Benaim. “In parallel, his daughter Sofi is going after the 193 countries, and Jaime is supporting her efforts. When she finishes them, they will be the first father/daughter team in history to have been to all 193 countries.”

In essence, the docu, produced by Benaim’s Apertura Films, aims to combine large-scale expedition filmmaking with intimate access to its subject, offering both a visually ambitious adventure and a philosophical portrait of a man who refuses to believe that any journey is ever truly complete.

Air quality advisories. A spike in emergency room visits for asthma.

Now, a University at Buffalo study has identified another consequence: fewer sightings of dozens of bird species across the Empire State.

In a study published earlier this month in Biodiversity and Conservation, researchers found that 40 different bird species were less likely to be observed in New York as levels of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in the air increased during recent breeding seasons. The analysis included the 2023 season that overlapped with Canada's worst wildfire season on record.

"Our results show a link between wildfire smoke and the probability of observing particular bird species," says corresponding author Festus Adegbola, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Geography within the UB College of Arts and Sciences. "Wildfire smoke is often underexplored when monitoring biodiversity. Failing to account for air quality may bias models of species distribution and abundance."

The researchers first analyzed PM2.5 levels, a key marker of wildfire smoke, during New York's 2021–2023 breeding seasons. The highest concentrations occurred in 2023, when smoke from Canada's historic wildfires degraded air quality across New York throughout June and July. PM2.5 levels exceeded World Health Organization guidelines on multiple occasions, at times reaching eight times the recommended limit.

The researchers then matched the PM2.5 data with nearly 99,000 birdwatching checklists submitted to Cornell University's eBird database. The citizen science project, run by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, allows birdwatchers to record the birds they observe, creating one of the world's largest collections of bird observations.

Because the observations come from birdwatchers with varying levels of experience, the UB researchers used rigorous data filtering and statistical methods to ensure reliable results.

In all, they analyzed 84 different bird species across nearly 99,000 eBird checklists collected throughout New York during the three recent breeding seasons.

Nearly half of the species studied were less likely to be observed when PM2.5 rose. These included many migratory forest songbirds, such as warblers, thrushes and vireos.

"It's possible that smoky conditions changed the birds' behavior—singing and moving less, spending more time in dense forest canopy—and therefore made them harder to detect," Adegbola says.

However, 15 species were more likely to be observed as PM2.5 levels rose, while another 29 showed no significant change in how likely they were to be observed. These included many aerial insectivores and some wetland-associated birds.

That doesn't necessarily mean wildfire smoke benefited those birds.

"These species often occupy more open environments than forest songbirds, so it's possible their increased sightings had more to do with where birdwatchers chose to observe during smoky conditions than how the birds themselves responded," says co-author Adam Wilson, Ph.D., associate professor of geography and Adegbola's adviser.

The findings suggest that fewer bird sightings during smoky periods don't necessarily mean there are fewer birds—they may simply be harder to detect. Understanding that distinction is crucial for biodiversity monitoring so that temporary declines in detectability aren't mistaken for true population declines.

"Still, as climate change continues to intensify wildfires, it's crucial we understand how birds will be affected by increased smoke pollution," Wilson says. "This study is hopefully a first step to better understanding how species respond to wildfire smoke exposure."

Other co-authors include Stuart Evans, Ph.D., assistant professor of geography, and Olivia Sanderfoot, Ph.D., a research scientist with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Publication details

Festus O. Adegbola et al, Wildfire smoke alters observations of 65% of breeding bird species in New York State, Biodiversity and Conservation (2026). DOI: 10.1007/s10531-026-03406-9

Who's behind this story?

Swati Mestri

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Andrew Zinin

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Citation: Canadian wildfire smoke linked to fewer bird sightings in New York State (2026, July 17) retrieved 17 July 2026 from https://phys.org/news/2026-07-canadian-wildfire-linked-bird-sightings.html

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Creating new gene editors

CRISPR tools use a programmable guide RNA to direct an enzyme to a specific target in the genome to edit (cut, insert or correct) DNA. The TnpB enzyme is a compact ancestor of certain CRISPR enzymes, called CRISPR-Cas12 enzymes. Researchers think its small size could make it useful in situations where delivery space is limited, like some kinds of gene editing in plants. However, these enzymes can be difficult to redesign.

While AI has been useful for automating complex genome editing and predicting DNA repair outcomes, most AI methods used for generating gene-editing enzymes have produced versions that are still very similar to natural proteins. When researchers have attempted to create new editors with novel, useful properties, they have found it challenging to change the protein without breaking the molecular contacts needed for DNA editing.

The authors of the new study write, "Although this approach has been successful for the generation of dynamic switches and DNA binders, the design of complex enzymes, such as RNA-guided nucleases bearing multiple functional domains and conformational states, remains an attractive but unresolved challenge."

A new method for diverging variants

Starting with the known TnpB enzyme structure, the researchers used an AI protein-design model called the ESM Inverse Folding (ESM-IF1) model to propose new sequences. Using evolutionary data, they selected which amino acids were important for RNA or DNA recognition and kept those unchanged. They tested these designs in bacteria, and then tested the most useful candidates in human cells and Arabidopsis plant cells. These active, divergent variants of TnpB were termed "SynTnpBs."

In the bacterial screen, 466 of 1,980 designed protein-part combinations showed detectable activity, with about 8% outperforming the natural reference enzyme. When the new variants were tested in human cells, two variants edited a test gene more efficiently than the natural enzyme, reaching 46% and 50%, versus 28% for the original enzyme. Other new variants were comparable in efficiency to the original. At some human DNA targets, the best designs delivered nearly fourfold higher editing than the natural TnpB.

The team also measured how much the new variants diverged from the original to ensure they were not too similar. They write, "Unlike LMs that generated proteins that retained wild-type DNA binding domains with >99% identity to natural homologs, our structure- and evolution-guided design approach created DNA- and RNA-interacting lobes with AI-generated contacts that had 83% and 72% identity to their closest counterparts in nature, respectively."

The study focused on only one compact nuclease family, so the approach may not work equally well for all gene editors. However, the results are promising, and further refinement and testing may yield better, smaller editing tools that eventually improve genetic research methods and agricultural innovation.

The study authors write, "Establishing the foundation for design of RNA-guided systems and flexible nucleic acid binders with an evolution- and structure-guided model, we envision extending their functions beyond natural sequence constraints through generative biology and toward de novo design, expanding the designable protein space."

Written for you by our author Krystal Kasal, edited by Gaby Clark, and fact-checked and reviewed by Andrew Zinin—this article is the result of careful human work. We rely on readers like you to keep independent science journalism alive. If this reporting matters to you, please consider a donation (especially monthly). You'll get an ad-free account as a thank-you.

Publication details

Petr Skopintsev et al, Structure and evolution-guided design of minimal RNA-guided nucleases, Science (2026). DOI: 10.1126/science.aed6123

Who's behind this story?

Krystal Kasal

Freelance science writer with Master's in physics. Five years clinical research and physics education experience. Science communicator. Full profile →

Gaby Clark

MA in English, copy editor since 2021 with experience in higher education and health content. Dedicated to trustworthy science news. Full profile →

Andrew Zinin

Master's in physics with research experience. Long-time science news enthusiast. Plays key role in Science X's editorial success. Full profile →

© 2026 Science X Network

Citation: AI‑designed gene‑editing enzymes expand the CRISPR toolbox (2026, July 17) retrieved 17 July 2026 from https://phys.org/news/2026-07-aidesigned-geneediting-enzymes-crispr-toolbox.html

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