Bolivia

Speakers of the indigenous language Aymara have just completed a year-long project to translate Facebook into their native tongue. Aymara is spoken by about two million people living in the Andes and Altiplano regions of Bolivia, Chile, and Peru but is classified as “vulnerable” on UNESCO’s list of at-risk languages. An online community called Jaqi Aru, which was behind the Facebook translation, has been working to preserve the language on the internet since 2009.

Japan

After years of failed attempts to crack down on dog fouling, the city of Izumisano in Osaka Prefecture has released an app that allows people to take photos of canine excreta they encounter and upload the images to an interactive online map. The authorities say the map will be used to identify problem areas and amend the patrol routes of the city’s dog-mess cleaning team. As well as poop, the app also allows residents to report potholes and damaged pavements.

India

Engineers are preparing for the launch of Astrosat — a space observatory which will study distant pulsars, white dwarfs, and black holes. The 1.5-ton satellite will launch on September 28, 2015 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota. Assuming everything goes smoothly, India’s ISRO will become only the fifth space agency (after the United States, Russia, Japan, and the European Space Agency) to launch an orbital observatory.

Russia

A Russian digital payment firm called Qiwi is planning to launch the country’s first virtual currency — the BitRuble. While many countries permit the use of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Russian authorities have always been split over their legality. Qiwi is investing several hundred million rubles in its project, which is due to launch in 2016, but will first have to convince the financial regulators that their project will be beneficial — likely a tricky task.

Israel

An Israeli fashion designer who created her entire graduate collection on 3D printers has said she’s looking forward to a world where people can download their favorite T-shirt and print it at the “click of a button.” Danit Peleg used six 3D home printers to create a full wardrobe, including high-heeled shoes. “You don’t need to know fashion designing or sewing because you can just print it and build it, just like a puzzle,” Peleg told The Jerusalem Post.

St. Helena

The petite South Atlantic island of St. Helena has welcomed the first-ever plane to land on its soil. The volcanic outcrop is home to 5,000 people, who refer to themselves as “Saints,” and was previously only accessible by a Royal Mail ship on a week-long journey from Cape Town (which will be decommissioned when the airport opens to the public). Plane access is expected to boost the tourist trade, though locals have raised questions over how easy it’ll be to deliver larger, bulkier freight that has always arrived by ship. Either way, it’ll no doubt change life on the tiny island forever.