💡 23 fact-based optimistic news from February
📈 People with Down syndrome live more than twice as long today. 🌚 A private company successfully lands on the moon for the first time. 🔫 Sharp decline in U.S. murders during 2023. 🦟 Cape Verde reaches milestone – free from malaria
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The most heartwarming news from February was how much the lives of people with Down syndrome have improved.
- The lifespan for individuals with Down syndrome has increased from 25 years in 1983 to about 60 years today.
- The number of people living independently and choosing to marry is growing.
- IQ has increased by 20 points.
- The majority learn to read and write.
But many other good and exciting things also happened in February. For the first time, a private company successfully landed on the moon. One leg broke, and the spacecraft is tilted, but it seems to be working.
Cape Verde is free from malaria. We have managed to read 2000-year-old papyrus scrolls, thanks to a smart competition and AI. Murders in the U.S. are down.
It's also worth noting that electric car sales broke a sales record globally, with over a million sold.
Scroll down a bit, and you'll find all the month's fact-based optimistic news.
Mathias Sundin
The Angry Optimist
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💡 Fact-based optimistic news
🍌 Genetically modified banana resistant to Panama disease approved for consumption in Australia
Australian researchers have developed a genetically modified banana that is nearly immune to Panama disease. Panama disease is a fungal infection that prevents banana plants from absorbing nutrients and eventually kills the plant. The banana is the first genetically modified fruit to be approved.
🦟 Cape Verde reaches milestone – free from malaria
Cape Verde has been declared free from malaria by WHO. No cases of local transmission have been reported for three years, thanks to strengthened health care systems and increased access to diagnosis and treatment.
🔋 Electric car sales hit record with over 1 million sold in January
An increase of 69 percent compared to the previous year. In the EU, EFTA, and the United Kingdom, sales increased by 29 percent year over year, while the USA and Canada saw a 41 percent increase and nearly a doubling in China.
🔫 Sharp decline in U.S. murders during 2023
The United States is on track for a record reduction in murders, according to the FBI. Of the nine categories of violent and property crimes, only motor vehicle theft has increased.
🌚 A private company successfully lands on the moon for the first time
Intuitive Machines has successfully soft-landed a robotic lander on the moon. The last time an American spacecraft landed on the moon was in 1972. This is the first time a private company has managed to land on the moon without crashing.
⚡ Record decrease in emissions from the EU's energy sector - renewables exceed 40%
Record decrease in coal, gas, and CO2 emissions in 2023 resulted in the EU's cleanest electricity mix ever. Emissions from the power sector have now nearly halved (-46 percent) since their peak in 2007.
💉 "Possible to eradicate Malaria within ten years"
New vaccines against malaria are hailed as one of the most important scientific advances. The vaccines Mosquirix and R21 reduce both the prevalence and mortality of malaria.
🍚 Meat-rice: Grain with added muscle strengthens protein content
This new rice-beef has a slightly higher fat and protein content than standard rice and can help reduce the environmental impact of meat production.
💔 Decreased mortality from heart diseases and stroke in the USA
Mortality from cardiovascular diseases has decreased by 4.7 percent from 2010 to 2020. The number of people in the USA dying from heart attacks each year has decreased from 1 in 2 to now 1 in 8. Stroke has also decreased. It was the third leading cause of death in 1938 but is now in fifth place.
📉 Rapid poverty reduction in Bangladesh
Poverty in Bangladesh has significantly decreased, with the moderate poverty level dropping from 24.3 percent in 2016 to 18.7 percent in 2022. Extreme poverty has been reduced from 12.9 percent to 5.6 percent.
📈 People with Down syndrome live more than twice as long today
The lifespan of individuals with Down syndrome has increased from 25 years in 1983 to about 60 years today. Other advancements include an increase in IQ by 20 points, with the majority learning to read and write. The number who live independently and choose to marry is growing.
🦾 Oslo buys ChatGPT for 110,000 students and teachers
The introduction of ChatGPT in schools can be compared to the introduction of the textbook, says Trond Ingebretsen, division director in the Education Agency.
🐦 The Guam kingfisher may soon be free in the wild after a 30-year absence
Almost 140 Guam kingfishers live today in 25 facilities worldwide. But the plan is for them to soon also exist freely in the wild.
🌱 We are close to creating the first artificial plant genome
Scientists have created a partially synthetic version of moss for industrial use. This could lead to new methods for producing medicines and other products.
🐼 Giant pandas in the wild have almost doubled
There are now about 1,900 giant pandas in the wild, compared to about 1,100 in the 1980s. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has changed the giant panda's status from "endangered" to "vulnerable".
🎉 Warp News and WALL-Y nominated as Innovation of the Year
At the Newspaper Publishers' gala for Newspaper of the Year, Warp News and the AI bot, WALL-Y, are one of three nominees in the category Innovation of the Year.
📉 EU's fossil CO2 emissions reach lowest level in 60 years
EU countries reduced their carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels by 8 percent in 2023 compared to 2022. More than half of the reduction in emissions came from the use of cleaner electricity.
🌲 From loss to recovery: The forests are growing again
China, the EU, the US, and India have together planted forests that could cover Bangladesh. Globally, forests can now absorb around 200 million tons of carbon dioxide per year, which is more than what is emitted through deforestation.
🌊 An ocean on Mars: Ice discovered that could cover the entire planet with water
The European Space Agency's Mars Express has discovered enough ice to cover the entire planet in a shallow sea if it melted. The ice is buried at Mars' equator and is over 3.7 kilometers thick.
🦏 The world's first IVF pregnancy in a rhinoceros could save the species
Scientists have achieved the world's first IVF pregnancy in a rhinoceros, opening new possibilities for saving the northern white rhinoceros from extinction.
🚭 Tobacco use declines globally (down 40% in the 21st century)
Global tobacco use has declined, from one in three adults in 2000 to one in five today. 150 countries have successfully reduced tobacco use.
🏆 The Vesuvius challenge solved! We can read the first scroll
Two thousand years ago, an ancient library of papyrus scrolls was buried under a volcanic eruption. They cannot be unrolled without being destroyed. But thanks to the Vesuvius challenge, several competing teams have managed to read the scrolls
Other texts
🦾 Boosting AI usage - report from the first meeting of the AI Commission
What should we focus on to take the lead in the AI era? That's what we discussed at the meeting with the AI Commission. My focus is to quickly increase usage. That was the success of the 90s with the internet and will be the same with AI. And I have an idea of how.
🆙 Warp Levels: How Hannes Sapiens Sjöblad wants to level up humanity
Hannes Sjöblad envisions not just the flesh bodies we are today, but a rich flora of different kinds of life forms and organisms. All interconnected with each other where we can share more and more of our ideas, feelings, and thoughts with each other.
👨💻 The angry optimist's guide to creating a GPT (your own special version of ChatGPT)
Now it's possible to build special versions of ChatGPT. It's powerful but super easy and anyone can do it. Here are some tips to get started.
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