X Files Season 5

~ D. J. Moore ~ Leave a comment

For the cliffhanger last season, Scully testified that Mulder had killed himself. In “Redux” (S5, E1), we learn the body wasn’t Mulder’s. He’s still very much alive. An informant tells him that at the end of World War 2, the government started faking UFOs for some reason. I guess to distract people from something else? (This is a return to the idea that the Air Force fakes alien abductions in “Jose Chung’s From Outer Space” (S3, E20).) Surprisingly, Mulder believes this informant and stops believing in UFOs for the rest of the season.

In a nod to Indiana Jones, Mulder visits the warehouse in the Pentagon where the US government keeps all its secrets. It would have been fun if they’d put the Ark of the Covenant on one of the shelves. Extended monologues from both Mulder and Scully in this episode makes it seem like the episode ran short and they needed to fill some time. Surprisingly, Cancer Man helps Mulder escape from the Pentagon. The tube that Mulder thought would be the cure to Scully’s cancer turns out to be filled with deionized water.

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Good News Friday

~ D. J. Moore ~ Leave a comment
  • Over the past decade, nearly a billion people have gained access to safely managed drinking water, and 1.2 billion have gained access to safely managed sanitation. Electricity now reaches 92 per cent of the world’s population – up from 87 per cent in 2015 – and internet access has risen from 40 per cent to 74 per cent. United Nations.
  • China’s clean-air campaign has cut Beijing’s smog by 70% in a decade, and cut heavily polluted days from 58 a year to just one. The effort has prevented an estimated 680,000 premature deaths since 2020 and generated $715 billion in cumulative health benefits. Global Times.
  • Global fossil-fuel emissions are set to fall by around 0.5% in 2026 amid the fallout from the Hormuz crisis. CarbonBrief.
  • Meet the first new cat species discovered in 100 years. National Geographic.

For more good news, check out Fix the News and The Progress Network.

Good News Friday

~ D. J. Moore ~ Leave a comment
  • Chile becomes first country in South America validated for eliminating dog-transmitted rabies as a public health problem. WHO.
  • Uzbekistan’s poverty rate dropped from 5.8% to 3.9% in 2026, reducing the number of people in need from 2.2 million to 1.5 million. Republic of Uzbekistan.
  • NYPD announces safest summer for shooting incidents, shooting victims, and murders in recorded history. NYPD.
  • India’s power-sector emissions flat for two years due to clean-energy surge. Carbon Brief.
  • Cumulative solar capacity in the United States is enough to power one-third of all U.S. homes. SEIA.
  • Coal-fired electricity generation in the US falls 11% in first half of 2026 as cheaper power sources such as natural gas grow. Financial Times.

For more good news, check out Fix the News and The Progress Network.

Good News Friday

~ D. J. Moore ~ Leave a comment
  • In nine African countries, average incomes have more than doubled since 1990. Our World in Data.
  • Mexico’s murder rate drops by nearly half since 2020. Bloomberg.
  • Bhutan eliminates dog-transmitted human rabies. WHO.
  • Tajikistan’s access to water in health facilities has more than doubled in five years. UNICEF.
  • South Africa’s power-sector emissions fell 19% in 2025, the steepest annual drop ever recorded. BloombergNEF.
  • AI tool spots heart disease in less than 2 seconds. The Guardian.

For more good news, check out Fix the News and The Progress Network.

The X Files Season 4

~ D. J. Moore ~ Leave a comment

After last season’s cliffhanger in which Mulder was trying to save a guy who could heal his mother from a shapeshifting alien, “Herrenvolk” (S4, E1) starts with a scene of creepy clone kids watching a guy get killed by bees. I seem to remember the Fox network had a documentary about killer bees around this time similar to their sensationalist alien autopsy video. Mulder meets clones of his sister who are at the age she was when she was abducted. Weird.

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Good News Friday

~ D. J. Moore ~ Leave a comment
  • Africa installs a record 17 GW of solar in 2026. Ember.
  • Clean energy additions in the US will rise by a record 45 gigawatts this year, roughly 25 percent higher than the record set in 2024. Ars Technica.
  • China’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions fell by 1% in the second quarter of 2026. Carbon Brief.
  • Delhi now has a metro system that is bigger than New York’s, and built it for a fraction of the price. It’s 33% solar-powered, captures brake energy in batteries, and ran 99.9% on time last year. It keeps an estimated 600,000 vehicles off Delhi’s streets, and every train reserves its first car for women. The New York Times.
  • Researchers have rediscovered the spinach pipefish, a relative of the seahorse thought to be extinct, in Papua New Guinea. Yale Environment 360.

For more good news, check out Fix the News and The Progress Network.

Good News Friday

~ D. J. Moore ~ Leave a comment
  • Four billion people live in a democracy today, up from 106 million in 1945. Our World in Data.
  • Six years after the pandemic, we have personalized mRNA vaccines for cancer. New York Times.
  • Electricity generation from renewables is set to overtake coal-fired output in 2026. IEA.
  • In less than three years, Uganda has provided access to electricity to well over a million people. World Bank.
  • Mozambique’s Marracuene district saw its worst flood in living memory in January 2026, yet nobody died thanks to drones. African Development Bank Group.
  • The prevalence rate of malaria in Nigeria fell from 42 per cent in 2010 to 15.2 per cent in 2025. The Guardian.
  • California’s Senate has voted unanimously to end child marriage. Hoodline.

For more good news, check out Fix the News and The Progress Network.

Good News Friday

~ D. J. Moore ~ Leave a comment
  • Malaria prevalence in Zanzibar has declined from about 40 per cent to 0.04 per cent over the past 25 years, bringing the islands close to elimination. Daily News.
  • In Laos, the national poverty rate fell from 24.6% in 2012 to 15% in 2024. About 500,000 fewer people live in poverty than a decade ago, despite population growth. World Bank Group.
  • England set to be one of the first countries to eliminate hepatitis C. BBC.
  • 2025 had biggest violent-crime drop in 90 years in the United States. Axios.
  • Electric car sales are now expected to reach 29% of total car sales worldwide in 2026. IEA.
  • Solar just eclipsed all other electricity sources for the first time ever in Utah. Good Good Good.
  • Nigerian conservationist Rachel Ikemeh almost single-handedly saved a species of primate, doubling its population since 2013. CNN.

For more good news, check out Fix the News and The Progress Network.