💡 Warp News #311
🐻 Polar bears are thriving. 📈 The gap between the world's richest and poorest has more than halved. 👩⚕️ AI-supported mammography reduces missed cancer cases.
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🗳️ Is the U.S. finished as a democracy?
On an early, cold January morning in 2008, I started the rental car and set off without either a map or a GPS to find a school in Pembroke, New Hampshire.
By some miracle, I made it.
I was there for a campaign event with a person who, within a few months, could be the President of the United States. That’s why I was so surprised that we were gathered in a small school library.
I sat in the front row, and when the candidate — John McCain — showed up, I was sitting just a couple of meters from him. He answered questions from the audience, and afterward I rushed forward to shake his hand and maybe say something intelligent.
This was my chance to impress. Unfortunately, all I managed to say was, "I'm from Sveeeeden."
I was amazed at how close you could get to the candidates. But that’s what a primary election forces them to do. People want to see, hear, and talk to them. Wow, I thought.
And it wasn’t McCain who was unique. I ended up greeting every candidate, and when I flew home a week later, I knew I had shaken hands and spoken with the next President of the United States (and with Chuck Norris..!).
This was an important moment in my growing infatuation with America. I kept going back more and more often, and each time I felt more alive. A country of and for optimists.
Then one day, Donald Trump rode the escalator down in Trump Tower and launched his campaign.
Now he is carrying out a full-scale attack on American democracy.
The most powerful country in the world could become an authoritarian state.
It is a real risk. It could happen. But I do not believe it will.
That is what I write about in an essay: ✊ My American love story — and why I believe the U.S. will not become a dictatorship
Mathias Sundin
The Angry Optimist
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✊ My American love story and the belief that the United States will not become a dictatorship
I fell in love with the United States on election night in 2004. Twenty years later, I stood in tears by the Statue of Liberty, wondering if it was over. This is a story of grief and betrayal — and why I still believe the American people will defend and save their democracy.
💡 Fact-based optimistic news of the week
🐻 Polar bears in Svalbard are thriving despite rapid sea ice loss
Researchers studied 770 adult polar bears in Svalbard between 1995 and 2019 and found that their body condition improved after 2000. The Barents Sea has lost sea ice faster than any other area where polar bears live, but the bears showed no signs of deteriorating health.
📈 The gap between the world's richest and poorest has more than halved since 2000
The ratio between the richest 10 percent's consumption and the poorest 50 percent's has decreased from 40 to 18 times since the turn of the millennium. Low- and middle-income countries have driven the development through faster economic growth than rich countries.
🦾 ChatGPT connected to robot lab and conducted 36,000 experiments to optimize protein production
The system identified new reaction compositions that reduced protein production costs by 40 percent compared to previous methods. Cell-free protein synthesis is used to manufacture proteins for pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, and industrial processes.
💰 Mexico's middle class now larger than number of poor for first time in history
The share of Mexicans in the middle class increased from 27.2 percent in 2018 to 39.6 percent in 2024. Poverty decreased from 41.9 percent to 29.6 percent during the same period. Approximately 12 million Mexicans have risen to middle class level since 2018.
👩⚕️ AI-supported mammography reduces missed cancer cases
A study with over 100,000 women shows that AI-supported mammography screening is equivalent to or better than traditional double reading. Sensitivity increased from 73.8 percent to 80.5 percent with AI support. Fewer cancer cases with unfavorable characteristics were missed in the AI group.
🚘 Waymo raises $16 billion to expand self-driving cars globally
Waymo has secured $16 billion in an investment round valuing the company at $126 billion. In 2025, Waymo tripled its rides to 15 million and plans to expand to over 20 new cities in 2026.
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