💡 Warp News #329
🇺🇳 The number of refugees in the world fell. 🦏 Satellites track animals from space. 📉 Australia's gas use has peaked.
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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.
📚 What are you reading this summer?
As is tradition, I'm sharing my summer reading tips. Among them a book about a fifty-year-old and one about superintelligence.
What are you reading this summer? Would love to know!
Mathias Sundin
The Angry Optimist
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📚 The angry optimist's summer reading tips
A handful of books that will hopefully make your summer better.
💡 Fact-based optimistic news of the week
⛽ Petrol cars have vanished from China's ten best-selling vehicles
In May, all of China's ten best-selling cars were electric vehicles or plug-in hybrids. Petrol cars have completely vanished from the list. Sales of new petrol cars in China have fallen by 41.8 percent compared with a year earlier.
📉 Australia's gas use has peaked and is now declining
Gas use in Australia has peaked across all sectors after more than half a century of growth. Gas for electricity generation has fallen 11 percent since 2014, and residential gas use peaked in 2020.
☀️ Solar overtakes gas in Asia
Solar power has surpassed gas to become Asia’s third-largest source of electricity. Solar generation in Asia has nearly quadrupled since 2020, reaching 1,727 terawatt hours over the twelve months to April 2026.
🦏 Satellites track animals from space to detect poachers in real time
When a poacher approaches, the animals flee in patterns that can be recognized, and tags on the animals pass the signal on so rangers can intervene. By 2027, six receivers in orbit will be able to receive data on animal movements in real time across the entire planet.
🇺🇳 The number of refugees in the world fell last year for the first time in a decade
The global number of refugees dropped by 3 percent during 2025 to 41.6 million. A total of 14.7 million displaced people returned to their home or origin areas during the year. Nearly 46,000 stateless people gained citizenship across 24 countries.
🌊 Chad's capital weathered record water levels without major damage
N'Djamena sits where the Chari and Logone rivers meet, leaving it highly exposed to flooding. During the 2024 rainy season the city protected 1.5 million residents even as rivers hit record levels, after clearing 217 miles of drainage and deploying 12 mobile pumps.
🤑 New research: Freer economies grew without harming the environment
A study of 49 economic liberalizations shows that GDP per person rose 16 percent within ten years. Total greenhouse gas emissions did not increase, and deaths from air pollution declined. After the year 2000, emissions fell both per person and per dollar of economic output.
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