💡 Musings of the Angry Optimist: Creating small crises for oneself
I have created three mini-crises for myself. It has been difficult, but very liberating.
🩸 Stem cells from one's own body can cure type 1 diabetes
A 25-year-old woman with type 1 diabetes began producing her own insulin after stem cell transplantation. The woman has been insulin-free for over a year and can now eat whatever she wants.
🚀 SpaceX landed a 25-story building between two arms on the launch tower
The first stage of the rocket, the one that landed at the launch tower, is about 70 meters tall, equivalent to a 25-story building. Reusing rockets makes our access to space much cheaper.
☄️ Scientists show nuclear explosion can deflect asteroid
Scientists have simulated the effect of X-rays from a nuclear explosion on asteroids. The results show that the method can provide sufficient force to change the trajectory of large asteroids. The technique could potentially be used to avert threats from asteroids up to four kilometers in diameter.
🌟 Earth may NOT be swallowed by the sun in 6 billion years
A rocky planet has been discovered orbiting a white dwarf star 4000 light-years away. The planet is believed to have survived the star's red giant phase by moving to a more distant orbit. The discovery provides insights into Earth's possible future when the sun expands.
🤰 Obesity in the US is decreasing
Obesity among adults in the USA is 40.3 percent according to a new report. This is a decrease from 41.9 percent in 2020. It breaks a trend of annual increases that has been ongoing since 2011.
🌍 Plan to provide 300 million Africans with access to electricity
Mission 300 is the name of the plan to provide 300 million Africans with access to electricity by the end of 2030. A total of 90 billion dollars is needed to succeed. The World Bank and African Development Bank are contributing 30 billion dollars.
💡 Warp News #250
❌ UK closes last coal power plant. 📉 Global extreme poverty has returned to pre-pandemic levels. 📊 The use of generative AI is growing faster than computers and the internet.
🧬 The story behind AlphaFold and this year's Nobel Prize in chemistry
This year's Nobel Prize in chemistry is a massive breakthrough that solves a 50-year-old challenge within biology. It was solved with the help of AI. But that was just the beginning. In two texts, Warp News has previously told the story and effects of AI and the protein folding problem.
📉 Global extreme poverty has returned to pre-pandemic levels
During the pandemic, the number of extremely poor people in the world increased for the first time in a long while. Now the numbers have turned downward again and are reaching the same level as before the pandemic, below 9 percent.
⚡ Complaining about new technologies' energy use is starting at the wrong end
Instead of complaining about the energy consumption of new technologies, like AI, we should start at the other end and make old technologies more efficient.
❌ UK closes last coal power plant - end of a 142-year era
The UK will close its last coal power plant in October 2024, marking the end of a 142-year era. Coal's share of electricity production has decreased from 40% in 2012 to zero in 2024, one of the fastest energy transitions in the world.
👩💻 Google paves the way for practically usable quantum computers
Google has built a quantum computer that makes fewer errors as it scales up. The company has passed an important threshold for error correction in quantum units. This paves the way for practically usable quantum computers in the future.
🧫 DARTS takes up the fight against antibiotic resistance
A major research project called DARTS has been launched to combat antibiotic resistance. Researchers are using new methods such as AI and microfluidics to find new antibiotics faster. Improved diagnostics can reduce unnecessary antibiotic use and slow down resistance development.
📱 Facebook and Instagram algorithms affect user behavior but not their political views
The study found no noticeable effect on political polarization among users. Users' knowledge about the election was not affected by the change in feed algorithm. Self-reported voter turnout remained unchanged despite significant differences in user experience.
📚 Top Reads
We're honored to present these top reads from world-class writers, who contribute to Warp News because they believe in our mission of spreading fact-based optimism all over the world.
🆙 Warp Levels - an idea to level up humanity
Humanity is doing the high jump without a bar. We have no goal. With Warp Levels, we determine what the next level for humanity should contain, so we can level up and make progress faster.
📚 Kevin Kelly: Focus on the biggest opportunities, not the biggest problems
We talk about some of the 450 advice in his new book, but also about his new project: Protopia - the hundred-year desirable future. And Kevin Kelly give advice for how Warp News should grow faster: "Wrap it around people and their dreams."
💡 A new mindset for humanity can impact billions of people now and in the future
If we succeed in giving humanity more optimism about the future, it will not only affect those living now but also all generations and billions of people who will live in the future.
💰 Wall Street legend: “Pessimists sound smart – optimists make money”
Jim O'Shaughnessy is a legendary investor on Wall Street. He shares what he thinks is the biggest opportunity for the future and explains how the world is going through a great reshuffle.
🔋 Northvolt and the benefit of understanding the future
The story of Peter Carlsson and Northvolt teaches us two lessons: You need to understand the future to see all the possibilities, and you must be a fact-based optimist to grab them.
💡 David Deutsch: Optimism, Pessimism and Cynicism
With so much progress in the world, how can pessimism still be widespread? It is because of cynicism, denying that “so-called-progress” is progress, argues David Deutsch, professor at Oxford University and one of the world's leading intellectuals on optimism.
