• Covid-19 vaccines saved an estimated 20 million lives during their first year. The Economist.
• Safety net programs in California moved nearly 1.7 million children out of poverty. PPIC.
• Europe’s improved air quality has saved millions of lives in the last few decades. In the early 1990s, nearly a million premature deaths a year were caused by fine particulate pollution. By 2005, that number had been more than halved, and in 2021 dropped to around 300,000. Euronews.
• Lab-grown blood given to people in world-first clinical trial. BBC.
• The movement to replace police with mental health providers for some 911 calls is gaining traction in rural America. Yes! Magazine.
• Voters in four states have approved ballot measures that will change their state constitutions to prohibit slavery and involuntary servitude as punishment for crime. AP.
• This coral reef resurrected itself — and showed scientists how to replicate it. NPR.
• Coming soon: A $25,000 solar-powered electric SUV. Axios.
• Mixed-race neighborhoods are now the norm in America. Back in 1990, 78 percent of White people lived in predominantly White neighborhoods, where at least 4 of every 5 people were also White. In the 2020 Census, that’s plunged to 44 percent. The Washington Post.

For more good news, check out The Progress Network, and Future Crunch.