💡 Warp News #305
📉 Measles deaths down 88 percent since 2000. 🐕 Trained dogs track poachers in Africa. 🐢 India's olive ridley turtles have recovered.
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Free newsletter with fact-based optimistic news about technology, science, and human progress with the angry optimist, Mathias Sundin. If you are not a subscriber, become one here.
🎆 Take the opportunity to play with AI
Maybe you’ve already made AI a natural part of your life, especially at work. Or perhaps you’ve barely started, or not at all. Either way, there are plenty of AI tools you haven’t tried, or have used far too little.
Now that many people have a few days off, I think you should take the opportunity to play and experiment. Do things you normally wouldn’t do.
Try building a website with Lovable – it’s fascinatingly simple and good. Make music with Suno. Check out the new features in NotebookLM, which has become remarkably good at infographics. Use Deep Research in ChatGPT to get a report on a topic you’re interested in. Create images and videos in Gemini.
Besides being fun, it’s useful to broaden your understanding of what AI tools are capable of.
Finally
Finally, I want to send you into the new year with this piece of news: the measles vaccine has saved almost 59 million lives since the turn of the millennium.
Pause for a second or two and think about that. 59 million lives saved!
Happy New Year!
Mathias Sundin
The Angry Optimist
💡 Fact-based optimistic news of the week
🐢 India's olive ridley turtles have recovered – 10 times as many nests now
20 years ago, researchers counted around 100,000 turtle nests in India, but during last winter's nesting season, approximately one million nests were recorded. Protection measures such as seasonal fishing bans, protected coastal zones, and ecotourism have contributed to the recovery.
📉 Coal has decreased from half to one-seventh of US electricity production in 15 years
Carbon dioxide emissions from US electricity production have decreased by approximately 40 percent since 2005. Solar and wind power now produce more electricity than coal and employ more American workers. This has prevented over one million asthma attacks and 60,000 premature deaths.
🏧 More women in developing countries have access to bank accounts
73% of women in low- and middle-income countries now have a financial account, an increase of 7 percentage points since 2021. The share of women saving formally has increased from 22% to 36% in three years. Mobile phones and digital accounts make it easier for women to use financial services.
🐕 Trained dogs track poachers in Africa
A British organization has sent 15 trained dogs to five African countries to combat poaching of rhinos and elephants. Some smaller nature reserves have almost completely eliminated poaching thanks to the deterrent effect of the dogs.
📉 Measles deaths down 88 percent since 2000
The measles vaccine has saved nearly 59 million lives since the turn of the millennium. The number of deaths in 2024 is among the lowest recorded since 2000. 96 countries have now eliminated measles, including the first three countries in Africa.
💰 Kerala in India has eliminated extreme poverty
The Indian state of Kerala has reduced poverty from 59.8% in the 1970s to near zero. Kerala has the lowest proportion of multidimensionally poor people in India, with only 0.55% of the population. The result was achieved through investments in health, education, and targeted interventions.
☀️ Despite political headwinds: American investments in carbon-free energy set record in 2025
Investments in carbon-free energy and transportation reached $75 billion in the third quarter of 2025, the highest quarterly figure ever. The full year 2025 is expected to exceed last year's total investment of $267 billion. Wind power investments rose 31% and reached the highest level since 2020.
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