💡 22 fact-based optimistic news from May
🌍 We have passed "peak pollution". 👩⚕️ We are close to eradicating polio. 🧠 Neuralink's first patient can control a computer with his mind. 🚗 Waymo's robotaxi has now reached 50,000 paid trips per week. 🏭 Record reduction in emissions within the EU emissions trading system.
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The theme of democracy marked May. Ahead of the Copenhagen Democracy Summit, news broke that global support for democracy is at a record high. 85 percent believe that democracy is important in their country.
For the seventh year in a row, I attended the Summit, which, as usual, filled me with both optimism and anger. Optimism about the people who defy dictators and risk their lives fighting for freedom.
Like Leopoldo López from Venezuela, who is building a global alliance of democracy defenders (and using technology in an exciting way). Or Ana Toklikishvili from Georgia, who runs the tech startup Vinici with the goal of enabling voters to see through the deceptions of authoritarian candidates in this fall's elections.
Anger over the fact that we still have dictatorships in our world. But as always, the anger fuels change. Based on an insight from Václav Havel, I suddenly realized that we live in a lie and must stop accepting dictatorship as part of our world order.
I also wondered why so many vote for authoritarian populists when support for democracy is so high in all countries. We need to develop the democracies we have. One idea is to move from representative democracy to liquid democracy.
More and more AI
It pleases me that more and more people seem interested in the optimistic perspective on AI. May involved a lot of travel for lectures and training. Canada, the USA, Brussels, Oslo, and of course Sweden.
Scroll down a bit and you'll find all of this month's fact-based optimistic news.
Mathias Sundin
The Angry Optimist
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💡 Fact-based optimistic news
🗳️ Global support for democracy is at a record high – 85%
85 percent of people globally believe that democracy is important in their country. The highest number so far.
📲 New record: 6G 500 times faster than average 5G
Researchers in Japan have achieved data transfer speeds of 100 gigabits per second, which is up to 500 times faster than the average 5G speed. The technology is expected to enable new applications such as holographic communication and improved VR experiences.
🛰️ Hello again! Voyager 1 begins transmitting to Earth after five months of silence
Voyager 1 is humanity's most distant spacecraft, now about 24 billion kilometers from Earth. NASA engineers managed to fix a communication error using creative solutions. The first data received shows that Voyager 1 is in good condition and functioning properly.
🦴 Faster healing of bone fractures – making them three times stronger
Japanese researchers have developed a new treatment method that uses plasma radiation to accelerate the healing of complex bone fractures. The healed bones were 3.5 times stronger compared to conventional treatments.
🧒🏿 40% of the reduction in child mortality is thanks to vaccines
Vaccines have prevented 154 million deaths since 1974, of which 146 million were children. Thus, vaccines account for 40 percent of the reduction in child mortality.
🏭 Record reduction in emissions within the EU emissions trading system
Emissions under the EU emissions trading system (ETS) decreased by 15.5 percent in 2023 compared to 2022. ETS emissions are now about 47 percent lower than 2005 levels, well on the way to the 2030 target of a 62 percent reduction.
🧬 AlphaFold 3 is here! Predicting structures of almost all biological molecules and their interactions
AlphaFold 3 is designed to predict the structure and interactions between biological molecules. Experimentally investigating these interactions can be time-consuming and costly. If these interactions can instead be accurately computed, biological research could be significantly expedited.
💉 Three West African countries begin vaccinating against malaria
Benin, Liberia, and Sierra Leone have started vaccinating children against malaria. The vaccine has shown a significant reduction in malaria diseases and child mortality in initial African pilot programs.
🛩️ Really large drones pave the way for long-distance freight transport
MightyFly receives FAA approval for autonomous eVTOL transport drones. The drone can carry a 45 kg load up to 100 kilometers. The range and ability to operate beyond the operator's line of sight enable long transport distances.
🅾️ Blood types can become mutually compatible
Scientists have developed a method using enzymes from gut bacteria to convert blood types A and B into the universal donor blood type O. This opens the possibility that all blood types can become universal donors.
🚗 Waymo's robotaxi has now reached 50,000 paid trips per week
Waymo's robotaxi is now performing 50,000 paid trips each week, up from 10,000 a year ago. The service is fully autonomous and available 24/7 in selected parts of Phoenix, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.
⚰️ Murders continue to decrease in the US
The number of murders has decreased by over 19 percent in more than 200 cities compared to 2023. Even in 2023, the number of murders dropped significantly.
🧠 Neuralink's first patient can control a computer with his mind
Noland Arbaugh can now control a computer with his thoughts thanks to Elon Musk's brain implant from Neuralink. Despite his paralysis, Arbaugh has been able to play computer games and communicate online.
🎣 The list of overfished species in the US has reached an all-time low
94 percent of fish stocks in the USA are no longer subject to overfishing. Key species have been removed from the list of overfished stocks. Thus, there are fewer species on that list than ever before.
🐳 Researchers begin to understand the basics of sperm whale language
Scientists have identified the fundamental components of sperm whale communication. Through the analysis of over 8,700 clips of sperm whale clicks, a complex communication system resembling a phonetic alphabet has been revealed.
🧏 She was deaf at birth, 18-month-old Opal Sandy had her hearing restored after a world-unique gene therapy
The treatment involved a 16-minute operation where she received a functional copy of a gene that is crucial for hearing. The gene has made her hearing almost completely restored. Opal Sandy can now hear sounds as soft as a whisper.
🔭 The Webb Telescope has discovered the earliest known black hole merger, "only" 740 million years after the Big Bang
One of the black holes is 50 million times more massive than the Sun. These findings help to understand how massive black holes have influenced galaxy development since the beginning of the universe.
🐮 Volta Greentech's new feed supplement reduces methane emissions from cows - secures $3 million investment
Volta Greentech secures $3.2 million to develop the second generation of the feed supplement Lome. The new supplement reduces greenhouse gas reduction costs by ten times. The company aims for a large-scale launch in 2026.
🧠 Frozen brain tissue can now be revived without damage - enables research
Researchers have successfully frozen and revived brain tissue without damage. This can lead to better studies of brain development. The experiments showed that the tissue maintained its structure and function after thawing, even after being frozen for 18 months.
🌍 The planet has likely passed "peak pollution" – emissions will now only decrease
The world has likely passed "peak pollution" for harmful local air pollutants. Emissions have significantly decreased in wealthier countries and China. The goal is to help developing countries quickly reduce pollution without hindering their development.
👩⚕️ We are close to eradicating polio
The world has made significant progress in the fight against polio, reducing the number of cases by a hundredfold since the 1980s. Two of the three serotypes of wild poliovirus have been eradicated. New vaccines and improvements in sanitation and testing will help us overcome the last obstacles.
🌼 A periodic table for flowering plants has been created – includes 9,500 species
Researchers analyzed 1.8 billion genetic letters from over 9,500 species of flowering plants. The research reveals the evolutionary history of flowering plants.
🌳 India's forests have steadily increased over the past 15 years
India ranks globally as third in net gain of average annual forest area between 2010 and 2020. They have prioritized biodiversity and conservation with an expanded network of protected areas.
Other texts
😒 It was the worst of times
When was the worst music produced? Now! Most crime? Now! Worst movies? Now! Worst morality? Now! In area after area, people think the worst time is now — a completely bizarre view.
🗳️ Leopoldo López is building an alliance of democracy defenders – with the help of technology
Four years in solitary confinement did not break him. He continued to lead protests against the dictatorship in Venezuela. After being forced to flee the country, he now continues his work from abroad, building a democracy movement that threatens all dictatorships worldwide.
🚱 We pay to live without electricity and water, that's how good our lives are
How crazy is it to pay to be without electricity and running water? That's my first thought when I read about Kyrkestatorpet, where you can "live as the crofters did in the past." But then I think about the effects that might come from a visit to an outhouse...
🤥 We live in a lie
How can we accept this, I thought after the first day of the Copenhagen Democracy Summit. How can it be that in 2024 we still have dictatorship in the world? How can it be allowed to exist? Because we live in a lie.
✊ The greengrocer's revolution
Nothing has done more to create human progress than democracy. There is nothing more important than achieving a fully democratic world as quickly as possible. Then even a grocer can make a difference.
🗳️ Record support for democracy, but people are disappointed with governments. Why and what do we do about it?
Almost 9 out of 10 want democracy. But far fewer are satisfied with the democracy they live in. This is based on the fact that the democratic system we have is over 100 years old and needs to be updated.
🤖 Is your job threatened by AI? Here's how you should NOT act
Can AI do tasks that are part of your job? Should you then fight and try to stop that kind of AI? That opinion is now being expressed. Instead, there is now a great chance to level up yourself with the help of AI. It will be much more successful.
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