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 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.
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.
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.
Generative AI is used by 39 percent of Americans aged 18-64, just two years after its introduction. This is a significantly faster growth compared to personal computers and the internet in their early years.
π Overdoses from opioids decreasing in the US. ποΈ Skin cancer decreases among younger people. π Waymo self-driving vehicles are significantly safer than human drivers. π Indian households' food expenses have decreased significantly.
Indian households' food expenses have fallen to less than half of total expenditures for the first time since 1947. The proportion of households' total expenses going to food has decreased considerably across the country.
π Overdoses from opioids are finally beginning to decrease in the US. π Large decrease in domestic violence. π©βπ First private spacewalk conducted. π Solar energy and battery storage set to double in the US this year. π¦Ύ AI avatars protect journalists in Venezuela.
The number of deaths from overdoses in the USA has decreased since fall 2023. This applies to both overdoses in general and overdoses related to opioids, including fentanyl.
French researchers have developed a system that can reduce the dosing of diabetes medication to once a month. The drug is particularly effective in managing type 2 diabetes and is available in both injectable and oral forms.
The risk of malignant melanoma is decreasing for people under 50 in Sweden since 2015. Improved awareness of sun protection and reduced access to tanning beds contribute to the decrease. Mortality from skin cancer has also decreased for age groups up to 59 years.
Energy consumption for desalination has decreased from 20 kWh per cubic meter in the 1970s to 2.5-3.5 kWh today. Producing enough drinking water for one person - about 3 liters per day - through desalination would cost only $2.30 for an entire year.
Waymo's self-driving cars have been involved in fewer than one accident with injuries per million miles driven. They estimate that their vehicles have 70 percent fewer accidents with injuries than human drivers.
π Large decrease in domestic violence. π³ Chainsaw amnesty protects rainforest in Borneo. π©βπ New record: 19 people orbited Earth simultaneously. π¦ Endangered grasshopper sparrow on the road to recovery.
The number of grasshopper sparrows in Florida has increased from 80 to 200 individuals in five years. The 1000th captive-bred sparrow was recently released into the wild. Over 15 percent of the released birds survive and reproduce successfully.
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.
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.
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."
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.
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.
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.
With so much progress in the world, how can pessimism still be widespread? It is because of cynicism, denying that βso-called-progressβ is progress, argues David Deutsch, professor at Oxford University and one of the world's leading intellectuals on optimism.