Good News Friday

  • The company Equatic has created a technology that extracts hydrogen from seawater while also removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it in the ocean. Heatmap.
  • The Saiga antelope was close to extinction in 2003, when the population was down to 21,000. The population has increased to 1.3 million today. Actual News.
  • Egypt declared malaria-free after 100-year effort. BBC.
  • Viet Nam eliminates trachoma as a public health problem. WHO.
  • Queensland’s youth crime rate has halved across the past 14 years. ABC.
  • Since 1970, 37 countries have cut the probability of their citizens dying before they reach age 70 in half. Duke Global Health.
  • Between 2000-2022, there has been a 75% decline in youth incarceration in the United States. The Sentencing Project.
  • Fentanyl deaths in the U.S. have dropped faster than expected. NPR.

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

Good News Friday

  • The Global Fund partnership has saved 65 million lives and cut the combined death rate from AIDS, TB and malaria by 61% since 2002. Friends of the Global Fight.
  • Elimination of trachoma as a public health problem in India. WHO.
  • Global EV and PHEV sales just reached a new record in September. A whopping 1.7 million electric vehicles were sold around the world, an increase of 30.5% year-over-year. Inside EVs.
  • New cervical cancer treatment regime cuts risk of dying from disease by 40%. The Guardian.
  • Global teen pregnancy rates have dropped by one-third since 2000. Our World in Data.
  • Breast cancer mortality rates overall have dropped by 44% since 1989, saving approximately 517,900 lives. American Cancer Society.
  • 2024 sees smallest summer surge in gun violence rates in 6 years. American Progress.
  • China’s buoyant airborne turbine reached a record height of 500 meters above ground generating power at a rate of over 50 kW. China Daily.

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

Good News Friday

  • WHO validates the elimination of trachoma as a public health problem in Pakistan. World Health Organization.
  • Brazil eliminates lymphatic filariasis as a public health problem. World Health Organization.
  • 1.3 million future deaths prevented by Gavi-supported vaccines in 2023. Gavi.
  • Northern bald ibis: Back from the brink. CNN.
  • Colorado has built more than 40 wildlife underpasses and 3 overpasses, reducing wildlife-involved crashes around 90%. Denver 7.
  • World-first therapy using donor cells sends autoimmune diseases into remission. Nature.

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

Good News Friday

  • North Carolina hospital company forgives debts of 11,500 people. NBC News.
  • In a world first, a woman’s type 1 diabetes is reversed by her own stem cells. Nature.
  • Global poverty rate has returned to pre-pandemic levels. World Bank.
  • Sierra Leone almost halves maternal mortality in five years. UNICEF (PDF link).
  • Self-driving Waymo vehicles get into injury-causing crashes less than one-third as often, per mile, as human-driven vehicles and a non-Waymo vehicle bore primary responsibility for most if not all of these crashes. Understanding AI.
  • India’s one-horned Asian rhino population has almost tripled in the past four decades thanks to conservation and anti-poaching efforts. New Straits Times.
  • 14 of the 38 OECD countries have acheived a coal-free power system. Ember.
  • Jimmy Carter’s first century. Breaking the News.

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

Diaries and Journals of Joseph Smith edited by Scott H. Faulring

In this volume, Faulring compiles most of Joseph Smith’s diaries and journals. This is missing most of the Book of the Law of the Lord since the LDS church was still keeping it secret at the time this book was written.

While Joseph Smith wrote some of this himself, most of the time he had various scribes write for him. I guess he didn’t like writing. It was no doubt more of a chore to write back then.

There’s a lot of gaps and jumping forward in time. Smith refers to some things without explaining them, so it’s better to already be familiar with his history to make sense of several passages.

Continue reading

Good News Friday

  • Microbes make nutrients out of thin air; richer source of protein than beef, fish. Interesting Engineering.
  • Ozone layer still well on track for full recovery. United Nations.
  • Governor bans use of conversion therapy on LGBTQ+ minors in Kentucky. AP.
  • US national forests are being replanted thanks to bipartisan legislation. Time.
  • Wind power overtook gas to become the EU’s second largest source of electricity behind nuclear, and by the first half of 2024 renewables generated 50% of electricity in the EU. European Commission.
  • Pakistan is now the third-largest importer of solar panels in the world. Financial Times.
  • Electric cars in Norway outnumber petrol for first time. The Guardian.
  • Jordan becomes first country to receive WHO verification for eliminating leprosy. WHO.
  • Until the 1990s, less than 1% of the global population in countries was legally protected from domestic violence. But by 2023, 9 in 10 people lived in countries with legal measures to combat domestic violence. Our World in Data.

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

Good News Friday

  • In the United States between 1993 and 2022, domestic violence rates dropped by 67 percent and the rate of rapes and sexual assaults fell 56 percent. PBS.
  • Heman Bekele, a 15-year-old Ethiopian immigrant to the United States, has been named Time’s Kid of the Year for inventing soap which may treat skin cancer. Time.
  • Rhino poaching plunges 80% in South Africa thanks to dehorning program. The Progress Playbook.
  • Massachusetts becomes the 20th state to offer tuition-free community college. The Christian Science Monitor.
  • US drug overdose deaths decline by roughly 10.6 percent. NPR.

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

Good News Friday

  • The Apache Trout, Arizona’s state fish, has been removed from the endangered species list due to collaborative conservation efforts. US Department of the Interior.
  • In July 2014, coal provided 38% of the United Kingdom’s electricity. In July 2024, it provided 0.59%, and at the end of this month it will reach 0%. Financial Times (PDF).
  • In the first six months of 2024, every 9th car sold in the world was fully electric, specifically every 4th in China, every 7th in Europe, and every 14.5th in the United States. The EV Universe.
  • Many of us can save a child’s life, if we rely on the best data. Our World in Data.
  • Vaccines have reduced infant mortality by 40% over the last 50 years. Our World in Data.
  • In the US, the IRS recovers $1.3 billion in unpaid taxes from high wealth tax dodgers. ABC News.
  • Teen vaping hits 10-year low in US. ABC News.
  • Around 6.6 million deaths were linked to childhood malnutrition in 1990. By 2021, this had fallen to only 2.4 million. Our World in Data.
  • Autonomous, solar-powered boats in Hong Kong can gobble up 176 pounds of waste an hour and carry 441 pounds on board. CNN.
  • The total amount of metals needed for the energy transition is far smaller than the total weight of fossil fuels we burn away each year. Bloomberg.
  • The share of coal in Australia’s main grid falls below 50% for first time. Renew Economy.

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

Good News Friday

  • Despite achieving rapid economic growth, China has reduced air pollution by 41% since 2013. The Progress Playbook.
  • Gun violence in Brooklyn this summer dropped to the lowest levels ever recorded. Gothamist.
  • The number of shootings in Portland has declined nearly 35% since Mayor Ted Wheeler declared a gun violence emergency in July 2022. OPB.
  • The number of Brazilians living in extreme poverty dropped by 40 percent in 2023 compared to the previous year. The Brazilian Report.
  • In the UK, the infant mortality rate fell from 6.3 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1993 to 3.9 in 2013. Nuffield Trust.
  • The typical U.S. worker out-earned inflation by $1,400 a year. NBC News.
  • Ozempic could delay ageing, researchers suggest. BBC.

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

Good News Friday

  • Joint initiative by Portland and Multnomah County successfully houses over 5,500 rormerly homeless individuals. Hoodline.
  • 29.2% drop in cancer death rates since 1999. The Baltimore Sun.
  • In Laos, malaria cases have dropped by over 90 percent over the past decade. USAID.
  • Mexico registered an 18 percent decrease in intentional homicides in July compared to December 2018. Prensa Latina.
  • Successes in treating people with HIV led to life expectancy in Africa rising from 56 to 61 years since 2010. Gavi.
  • US death rate dropped 6% in 2023, with Covid-19 falling to 10th leading cause of death. CNN.
  • World-first lung cancer vaccine trials launched across seven countries. The Guardian.
  • Wind and solar generating capacity surpasses 1,200 gigawatts in China, hitting renewable power target six years early. Bloomberg.

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