💡 Warp News #299
🌳 Amazon deforestation at lowest level in a decade. 🔋 Battery storage doubled in 2024 – as much as in all previous history. 📉 Uganda has reduced AIDS deaths by 64 percent in 14 years.
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😅 Now I’m tired – and bursting with energy
I’m not quite sure how to sum up last week’s book release. The day after, I was completely exhausted — and at the same time, overflowing with energy for the rest of this book’s journey.
Maybe I can describe it like this:
Before the stage program began, I stood in the middle of the crowd, greeting guests and chatting with them. You’re right in the eye of the storm, and while I noticed that many people were there, I didn’t really have time to look around and take it all in.
When I walked from the mingling area to the stage, I saw that the entire large room was filled with people. Of course, it’s always nice when people show up for something you’ve arranged, but this was different. My book — the one I’ve worked so hard on and have such big ambitions for — was the reason we were all gathered there.
I stopped mid-step, took it all in, and smiled so, so wide.
Then it got even better.
Christian von Essen opened with a musical number. Christian was his wonderfully funny, warm, and brilliant self — like only he can be.
We began with the secret guest: Oscar Täckström. Without him, we wouldn’t have been there that evening. He has made a crucial contribution to what we today know as generative AI.
After that, I had the pleasure of talking with SVT’s Alexander Norén, Di Digital’s Ida Hansson Brusewitz, and Loop’s Camilla Bergman.
The evening was topped off by having my entire close family there.
Thank you to everyone who came! I appreciate it immensely!
Thanks also to the taxi driver who patiently waited while I struggled to squeeze that enormous sign into the cab.
📗 Available everywhere books are sold
Since Monday, the book has officially been released and is now available everywhere. Right now, it’s cheapest at Bokus and Adlibris.
It’s also available as an e-book and audiobook—with the AI narrator “Oscar”—on all audiobook platforms. So far only available in Swedish.
Mathias Sundin
The Angry Optimist
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💡 Fact-based optimistic news of the week
📉 Uganda has reduced AIDS deaths by 64 percent in 14 years
The number of annual AIDS deaths in Uganda has decreased from 56,000 in 2010 to 20,000 in 2024. New HIV infections have fallen from 96,000 to 37,000 during the same period. 96 percent of those receiving antiretroviral treatment have the virus under control.
🔋 Battery storage doubled in 2024 – as much as in all previous history
The world installed over 160 gigawatt-hours of new battery storage in 2024, nearly as much as in all recorded history. Analysis shows that battery storage globally could reach 100–180 terawatt-hours in the long term, three to six times more than current forecasts.
🩸 Promising: Blood test can detect more than 50 cancer types – enables earlier treatment
A blood test shows ability to identify over 50 different cancer types and can speed up diagnosis. More than half of the cancer forms were detected in early stages where treatment is more effective. Three-quarters of the detected cancer types currently lack screening programs.
🧮 Mathematical result: The universe cannot be a computer simulation
Several people believe we live in a computer simulation. New research now shows mathematically that this is not only unlikely, but impossible. Every simulation is governed by algorithms, but since reality is not, the universe can never be a simulation.
🏭 US coal exports plummet – plus five additional problems for coal
US coal exports decreased by 11% during the first half of 2025, while Indonesia's exports fell by 12%. China's coal power production decreased by 4.7% and the country's emissions from electricity production fell by 3% in the first half of 2025. Coal prices have fallen by approximately 30%.
🌳 Amazon deforestation at lowest level in a decade
Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon fell by 11 percent between August 2024 and July 2025, the lowest level in nearly a decade. Authorities conducted 9,540 inspections during the year, an increase of 38 percent, and issued environmental fines totaling 520 million dollars.
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