💡 Fact-based optimistic news from December
🌳 Deforestation in the Amazon decreases by 30%. ⚡ Ukraine builds renewable energy during war. 💉 Covid vaccines saved 20 million lives.
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How many times in recent years have you heard that deforestation in the Amazon is increasing?
Compare that to the number of news stories about deforestation in the Amazon decreasing!
We have reported several times that the trend has reversed. The situation is not good, but less bad.
Why aren't these news stories reported as much? When we only hear the bad news, we get a distorted perception of reality.
Thank you for reading Warp News and helping to counteract one-sided news coverage.
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
🧫 One single test can now detect almost all known infections
The technology replaces multiple different tests with a single test, eliminating time-consuming guesswork in diagnosis and treatment of infections.
🦾 Robot learns surgery as well as surgeons by watching videos
A surgical robot trained by watching videos of experienced surgeons performed the same surgical procedures with the same precision as human doctors.
💊 Weight loss drugs could transform society and save billions
GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes by 20 percent in overweight people with cardiovascular disease. The drugs could save countries $429 billion annually between 2020-2060 if obesity increase slows by 5 percent.
🛫 New aircraft engine makes supersonic flight cheaper and more climate-friendly
The engine is designed to run on liquid natural gas which costs one-tenth of traditional jet fuel and emits 30 percent less carbon dioxide.
💉 Sudan begins malaria vaccination
Sudan starts malaria vaccination, with 186,000 doses reaching 148,000 children under one year. The vaccine will be administered in 15 areas in the Gedaref and Blue Nile states, with plans to expand to 129 areas during 2025-2026. Sudan has high prevalence with over 3.4 million cases during 2023.
🌳 Deforestation in the Amazon decreases by 30%
Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has decreased by 30 percent over the past year, reaching its lowest level since 2015. In Cerrado, Brazil's savanna region, deforestation also decreased by 26 percent, the first reduction in five years.
📉 Lowest poverty level of the 21st century in Latin America
Poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean has decreased by 4.7 percentage points between 2021 and 2023. The middle class has grown to 41.1 percent of the population in 2023, the highest level this century.
💉 Covid vaccines saved 20 million lives during first year of the pandemic
The Covid vaccine saved an estimated 20 million lives globally during the first year the vaccine was available. Data shows that mortality was significantly higher among unvaccinated individuals, particularly during virus outbreaks. At least 25 million people died in the pandemic.
✈️ Boom Supersonic ready to deliver supersonic aircraft in 2029
Boom Supersonic will deliver the passenger aircraft Overture, flying at 1,300 miles per hour (Mach 1.7), to airlines in 2029. A journey between New York and London will take 3 hours and 40 minutes, compared to today's 7 hours.
🔋 Stores are starting to profit from EV charging stations
A new study shows that stores within 200 meters of charging stations get 4 percent more visitors and 5 percent increased sales. Over 200,000 public chargers are now deployed at approximately 74,000 stations in the USA.
🕺 He created a low-cost AI music video for Eurovision, with 94% lower energy consumption
Filmmaker Matthew Blakemore created the video for just $800, using AI tools for music, sound effects, and visual content. The video includes over 35 references to Eurovision Song Contest and showcases how AI can enable content creation with limited resources.
🚰 Major increase in access to clean water and sanitation in China
Access to safe water in China has increased from 45.7 percent to 91.3 percent between 2000 and 2020. In urban areas, over 95 percent of households now have access to clean water, while rural areas reach 82.4 percent.
🦾 Robots learn through self-training and human interaction
DeepMind develops robots that become more skilled by training against both humans and other robots. Researchers are now working towards a future where a single artificial intelligence can control different types of robots.
🐕 New project to eradicate rabies in over 50 low-income countries
More than 50 low-income countries can now apply for financial support from Gavi for rabies vaccines and cold storage. North and South America have reduced rabies cases by over 95 percent through dog vaccination.
🌳 Forests can naturally regrow in area larger than Saudi Arabia, new study shows
Tropical forests can naturally regrow on 215 million hectares of land without trees needing to be planted. If all identified areas were reforested, it would sequester 23.4 billion tons of carbon dioxide over 30 years.
💣 Historic clearing of ammunition from the Baltic Sea floor
SeaTerra initiates a groundbreaking effort to clear 1.5 million tons of World War II ammunition from the Baltic Sea floor. The company uses the advanced underwater robot Norppa 300 that can work at 300 meters depth around the clock.
🚜 Solar cells transform agriculture in Pakistan
Pakistani farmers reduce their energy costs by up to 80 percent by installing solar panels for irrigation. 95 percent of farmland in the Lahore area has switched to solar power.
⚡ Ukraine builds renewable energy during war: "Difficult to destroy"
Ukraine's largest private energy company, DTEK, has rebuilt solar power plants in seven days after Russian attacks, compared to three to four months for thermal power plants. Decentralized power generation is much more resistant and difficult to destroy, than centralized.
🔋 Battery prices for electric cars continue to drop during 2024
Average battery prices decreased by 20 percent to $115 per kilowatt hour during 2024. Battery cells fell even more, by 30 percent to $78 per kilowatt hour. Electric car batteries for passenger cars fell below $100 per kilowatt hour for the first time.
⛰️ AI help discover 303 new geoglyphs in Peru
Scientists have found 303 previously unknown geoglyphs in the Nazca desert using artificial intelligence and drones. The AI technology could filter out 98 percent of the image material and identify potential geoglyphs with high precision.
🧮 Google's quantum computer performs calculation in 5 minutes that would take longer than the universe's existence for a supercomputer
Google's new quantum computer solved a calculation in five minutes that would take longer than the universe's existence to solve with a regular supercomputer. The time it would take the supercomputer to do the calculation is nearly a million billion times longer than the age of the universe.
🦟 New malaria vaccine delivered directly through mosquito bites
Scientists have developed a new method to vaccinate against malaria by letting genetically modified malaria parasites transfer via mosquito bites. The method provided 89 percent protection against malaria in the initial study.
🧬 First CRISPR treatment is now being given to patients
The first treatment using CRISPR technology has begun being administered to patients with sickle cell disease and beta-thalassemia. Patients do not produce healthy hemoglobin. Casgevy uses CRISPR to modify the patient's own cells so they produce healthy hemoglobin.
☀️ World's longest underwater cable for solar power gets green light
SunCable receives approval to export renewable electricity from Australia to Singapore via a 4,300-kilometer underwater cable. The power will come from the world's largest solar and battery park, to be built in northern Australia at a cost of 35 billion dollars.
Other texts
📚 The best books I read in 2024
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💡 Musings of the Angry Optimist: A moral responsibility to accelerate
When we see a digital solution that works, we have a moral obligation to ensure that as many people as possible benefit from it, as quickly as possible.
🏅 Not celebrating a Nobel Prize is far from being clear-sighted, Han Kang
To only see war and misery is not clear-sighted, it is one-eyed.
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