💡 Hopescrolling: 24 optimistic news in August
24 fact-based optimistic news items that show how the world improved in August.
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Hopescrolling
Hopescrolling = the opposite of doomscrolling.
You're already aware of the bad things that happened in August, but are you familiar with all the positives? A bit further down, you'll find a list of 24 fact-based optimistic news from August (and that's far from all of them).
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Most read news in August
One of the month's most-read news is actually a non-story.
In early August, several media outlets reported that a large ship with thousands of cars onboard was on fire. The news spread quickly, as electric cars were onboard, and it was claimed that these had started and exacerbated the fire.
However – and this is the non-story-story – that was not the case. All 500 electric cars onboard survived the fire. Unfortunately, this was not followed up and reported by the media that had singled out the electric cars.
1. 🚢 Nope, there's no indication that electric cars caused the ship fire
2. 😲 A new force of nature? Yep, Fermilab scientists think so
If a fifth force is confirmed, it could be one of the most significant scientific breakthroughs in a century, since Einstein's relativity theories.
Read more on Warp News
3. 🌊 Less plastic in the oceans than presumed, says Dutch researcher
Recent research indicates significantly less plastic in oceans than estimated. Around 3 million tons, instead of 50 to 300 million tons of plastic waste.
Read on Warp News
💡 All fact-based optimistic news in August
💛 Decline in suicides among young people in 2022
Suicides in the 10-to-24 age bracket decreased by 8.4 percent. The decline counters recent trends.
🏭 EU sees decline in pollutant emissions amid economic growth
Total emissions in EU Member States dropped in 2021, continuing the decline since 2005. During the same period, GDP grew by 47 percent.
🌊 Less plastic in the oceans than presumed, says Dutch researcher
Recent research indicates significantly less plastic in oceans than estimated. Around 3 million tons, instead of 50 to 300 million tons of plastic waste.
🐢 Record-breaking sea turtle nesting observed in northern Palm Beach County
Loggerhead Marinelife Center reports an all-time high in sea turtle nests. The increase from last year is 37 percent.
😲 A new force of nature? Yep, Fermilab scientists think so
If a fifth force is confirmed, it could be one of the most significant scientific breakthroughs in a century, since Einstein's relativity theories.
🧬 CRISPR-edited foods begin appearing on shelves
CRISPR foods could be part of the solution for world hunger. Through genetic editing, crops and animals can be made hardier, need fewer resources, last longer, and offer better nutrition.
🏭 U.S. makes billion-dollar investment in carbon capture technology
Two large-scale facilities in Texas and Louisiana are set to remove millions of tons of CO2 from the atmosphere annually.
💰 Wealthier and more economically equal (how the world has evolved in the 21st century)
Globally, everyone has become wealthier, but the poor have become wealthier faster.
🎮 Violent video games don't make children aggressive
Parents and moralists can relax. Violent video and computer games do not make children aggressive, as demonstrated by three studies.
⚠️ Seismic shift: Earthquakes detectable hours in advance, instead of minutes
Current earthquake warning systems typically give only a one to two-minute heads-up. But now researchers have identified nearly imperceptible shifts up to two hours before major quakes.
🔬 RNA-guided system in animals shows promise for human genome editing
Bacteria use a "scissors" system called CRISPR-Cas against viruses, and scientists have now discovered that complex cells, like ours, have a similar tool too.
💉 First tuberculosis vaccine in 100 years is in sight
Tuberculosis kills over 1.6 million per year. But there is hope on the horizon, with the new M72 vaccine. The first new TB vaccine in a century.
⛈️ Better weather forecasting with AI
Historically, weather-forecasting involved numerical models. They took in current data, used math and physics to predict the future, and were quite reliable. However, they took hours to generate results. Now, the world is seeing AI systems that can predict just as accurately but much faster.
🚢 Nope, there's no sign that electric cars caused the ship fire
Many media outlets reported at the end of July about a major fire on a ship with 500 electric cars on board. They speculated and in some cases claimed that the electric cars were the cause of the fire. Now, as the ship is inspected, it turns out that the electric cars were unharmed.
⚡ Fusion power breakthrough is repeated (now even more energy out than in)
US scientists achieve net energy gain in fusion reaction for the second time. The latest experiment produced more energy than the first one conducted last year.
🌳 Deforestation in the Amazon rainforest has decreased by a third
Deforestation in the Amazon decreased by 34 percent during the first half of the year compared to 2022. In July, the region entered a dry season with an increased risk for deforestation. Was the positive trend interrupted then?
💰 New data: Fewer and fewer poor countries (including Gaza and the West Bank)
A drastic decline in low-income countries since the 1980s. 80 percent of nations saw a gross national income per person improvement in 2022. Gaza and the West Bank move up to the upper-middle income group.
🌡️ New IPCC chairman: Talk of doomsday doesn't help in climate efforts
"If you constantly communicate the message that we are all doomed to extinction, then that paralyzes people", says the new chairman of the UN:s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
💰 O'Shaughnessy Ventures launches grants program
Five people have been selected as the inaugural recipients of the O’Shaughnessy Grants. Each will receive a $10,000 grant.
🔥 Fewer fires in electric cars compared to fossil-fueled cars (in the country with the highest share of electric cars)
"Electric cars rarely catch fire, and much less frequently than gasoline and diesel cars," says Kjetil Solberg from the Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection (DSB).
🌧️ Solar panels? No, RAIN panels
Raindrops can be a source of clean, renewable energy. A new design mimics solar panels, boosting efficiency in raindrop energy collection.
💡 Optimist's Edge
💡 The centaur's edge (how amateurs beat experts)
💡 Optimist's Edge: By becoming really good at using AI tools, amateurs can perform better than experts.
👨🏻💻 Columns and essays
🔃 Optimism is dead
Optimism is dead – So don’t fool us that – The future is created by optimists.
🚢 How a box and a truck driver made the world smaller and the global economy bigger
Loading a medium-sized ship with loose cargo cost $5.86 per ton in 1956. If you instead used containers for the cargo, the cost dropped to 16 cents. This breakthrough dramatically changed the world in the second half of the 20th century.
🌍 Stop saving the world
If the world needs saving, it means that it is falling apart. On the contrary, the world is getting better.
💡 Musings of The Angry Optimist
How should one think about Elon Musk?
I discovered Elon Musk ten years ago and became obsessed. This is how my thoughts about him have changed since then.
Read on Warp News
Doomsday talk and climate change
Does doomsday rhetoric about the climate work?
Read on Warp News
A motorcycle for the mind
Steve Jobs called the computer a bicycle for the mind. Then AI is a motorcycle.
Read on Warp News
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