🌏 The best things happening to humanity right now

It is easy to think of bad things happening right now, but what are the best ones? The list can be made very long, but here are my favorites. What are yours?

New vaccines can defeat malaria

Nearly a quarter billion people get malaria every year and over 600,000 die. Most of them are in Africa. The trend over time is positive, even though the pandemic increased death rates.

But we have now acquired a new weapon in our arsenal: Effective malaria vaccines.

The first approved malaria vaccine has already been rolled out in several African countries and has been shown to reduce severe cases of malaria in young children by 30-40 percent. Now an even more effective vaccine, providing up to 77 percent protection, has become available and ready for broad implementation. This new vaccine is also cheaper to manufacture and requires fewer doses, making it easier to distribute to areas where the need is greatest.

At least five more vaccines are in development. Therefore, it may be possible to eradicate malaria within ten years, believes Adrian Hill, who works with one of the vaccines. My guess is that it will take longer, these kinds of processes are not fast, but now we have a way to defeat this terrible disease.

AI unleashes human potential

The fact that computers now understand our language and can therefore talk to us, and to each other, is a massive breakthrough. We need no special code or commands to get computers to do things for us and with us. Therefore, AI is now for everyone.

When we combine human intelligence with artificial intelligence, human potential and creativity are unleashed. Things that previously required thousands of hours of training we can now do with much less effort. Everything from art and music to financial analysis.

When human potential is unleashed for all people (with an internet connection) it will lead to dramatic changes and improvements.

Remarkable fast growth in renewable energy

Last year, renewable energy grew by 50 percent. Solar energy in particular is growing fast, nearly doubling last year and expected to grow by another third this year.

The increase is driven partly by falling prices, down over 90 percent since 2010. This cost reduction is driven by Wright's law, which means that costs decrease with increased production. Therefore, the price for solar cells will continue to decrease in the coming years and installations will continue to increase.

We are moving towards a world where we have an abundance of clean energy.

Cheaper space travel opens the solar system for humans

Recently, SpaceX managed to catch its 25-story rocket in two arms on the tower that the rocket had lifted off from minutes earlier. The reason is to quickly refuel the rocket and launch it again.

If the entire rocket can be reused and quickly lift off again, the cost of reaching space decreases. Eventually, the cost might become as little as one thousandth of what it was about ten years ago.

This gives us the ability to reach space much cheaper than before. We can launch millions of satellites that help us keep track of things on Earth (and in space). We can build space hotels and large research stations. We can send more space probes on research projects out into the solar system. And we can begin establishing humanity on the moon, on Mars, other planets and moons, and on enormous space stations.

Humanity needs more pioneering spirit. In space, we can build new with lessons learned from the mistakes we made on Earth. At the same time, we can use that knowledge and new technologies to create a better life for all living things on Earth.

A long list

As mentioned, the list of positive things happening right now could be made much longer. These are my favorites.

Consider what your list looks like. Share it with friends and acquaintances. It's good to remind ourselves and each other that parallel to wars and other misery, many good things are also happening.

Mathias Sundin
Angry Optimist