Fact-based optimistic news with The Angry Optimist
WALL-Y 4 min read

πŸ“² Mobile payments increase dramatically in Africa and contribute to economic empowerment

Mobile payments have grown from 13 million accounts in 2010 to over 640 million accounts in 2023. In Sub-Saharan Africa, the share of people with mobile money accounts has increased from 12 percent in 2014 to 33 percent in 2021.

WALL-Y 1 min read

πŸ… Thailand's tiger population has increased fivefold in 15 years

The tiger population in Thailand's Western Forest Complex has increased from approximately 40 individuals in 2007 to between 179 and 223 last year. WWF calls the increase extraordinary. Major tiger population recoveries have also been noted in India and Nepal.

WALL-Y 3 min read

πŸ‘©β€πŸ« AI tools give teachers six weeks of extra time per year

Teachers who use AI weekly save 5.9 hours per week, equivalent to six weeks per school year. Most teachers who use AI tools say the tools improve the quality of their classroom work.

WALL-Y 2 min read

πŸ’Š Scientists use bacteria to turn plastic waste into paracetamol

Researchers have discovered that bacteria can convert plastic waste into paracetamol using genetically modified E. coli. The process works with material from plastic bottles and can produce paracetamol with up to 92 percent yield in under 24 hours.

WALL-Y 2 min read

🚭 Drug deaths plummet among young Americans

Fatal overdoses among 20- to 29-year-olds decreased by 47 percent. The number of fatal overdoses among people under 35 years fell from over 31,000 in 2021 to approximately 16,690 in 2024.

Mathias Sundin 3 min read

πŸ’‘ Warp News #285

β˜€οΈ Now over one million balcony solar installations. 🏭 Ireland shuts down its last coal power plant. 🚰 Desalination plants to produce fresh water on ocean floor.

WALL-Y 1 min read

🏭 Ireland shuts down its last coal power plant – becomes the 15th coal-free country in Europe

Ireland became the 15th coal-free country in Europe when the Moneypoint power plant was shut down on June 20. The country now generates 37 percent of its electricity from wind power according to energy think tank Ember.

WALL-Y 1 min read

β˜€οΈ Now over one million balcony solar installations in Germany

Germany now has over one million balcony solar installations in operation producing environmentally friendly energy. The installations together deliver almost 1 gigawatt of power, equivalent to 956 megawatts.

WALL-Y 2 min read

🧬 DeepMind's new AI identifies the gene variants most likely to cause disease

AlphaGenome can predict how individual DNA changes affect gene expression and protein production across the entire human genome. The tool outperformed 22 of 24 other computer models in identifying specific features in DNA sequences.

WALL-Y 2 min read

🧠 Younger generations have lower risk of dementia at a given age than earlier generations

People born later have less risk of developing dementia at the same age compared to earlier generations. The trend is clearer among women, especially in Europe and England.

WALL-Y 2 min read

🚰 Desalination plants to produce fresh water on ocean floor

Three companies are developing technology to desalinate seawater in deep water, which can reduce energy consumption by up to 40 percent. The first large-scale facility will start producing 1 million liters of water per day in Norway in 2026.

WALL-Y 2 min read

β˜€οΈ Solar energy with batteries now delivers electricity around the clock in several countries

17 kWh battery storage is enough to convert 5 kW solar panels into constant 1 kW clean electricity around the clock. Sunny cities like Las Vegas can reach 97 percent of the way to constant solar electricity every hour throughout the year.

WALL-Y 3 min read

πŸ”­ The world's largest digital camera weighs as much as a car and takes 3200-megapixel images of the sky

During the first 10 years, the observatory will collect more optical astronomical data than all previous telescopes combined.

Mathias Sundin 3 min read

πŸ’‘ Warp News #284

🌾 Food prices expected to fall. 🧬 New AI model predicts cellular responses to drugs and treatments. πŸ‘οΈ Contact lenses that give humans infrared vision.

WALL-Y 2 min read

🧬 New AI model predicts cellular responses to drugs and treatments

Arc releases State, a virtual cell model trained on data from nearly 170 million cells to predict how different cell types react to drugs and genetic perturbations.


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πŸ“š Top Reads

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.

Mathias Sundin 7 min read

πŸ†™ Warp Levels - an idea to level up humanity

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.

Mathias Sundin 4 min read

πŸ“š Kevin Kelly: Focus on the biggest opportunities, not the biggest problems

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."

Mathias Sundin 5 min read

πŸ’‘ A new mindset for humanity can impact billions of people now and in the future

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.

Mathias Sundin 10 min read

πŸ’° Wall Street legend: β€œPessimists sound smart – optimists make money”

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.

Mathias Sundin 4 min read

πŸ”‹ Northvolt and the benefit of understanding the future

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.

David Deutsch 13 min read

πŸ’‘ David Deutsch: Optimism, Pessimism and Cynicism

With so much progress in the world, how can pessimism still be widespread? It is because of cynicism, denying that β€œso-called-progress” is progress, argues David Deutsch, professor at Oxford University and one of the world's leading intellectuals on optimism.