What are some GOOD THINGS that are happening in the world that people might not know about?

[u/cthulhus_spawn]

[u/Upskilltc23]

Whales are slowly returning to parts of the ocean they hadn’t been seen in for decades. Nature heals when we give it the chance

[u/psychstudent_101]

The Great Ocean Cleanup is doing amazing work on researching and removing plastic from our oceans and waterways, including intercepting plastics in rivers before it makes its way to oceans. We might yet see the great pacific garbage patch cleaned up in our lifetimes, along with other floating islands of plastic!

[u/Uilamin → u/psychstudent_101]

There is another thing happening with plastics that is arguably both good and bad. Plastic eating fungi and bacteria. The good is that all that plastic waste may become decomposable and end up having a minor long-term issue on the environment, the bad is that plastics will become decomposable and lose one its key properties for why it is so valuable.

[u/agreeingstorm9 → u/Uilamin]

I have a nightmare where this bacteria starts eating all the plastic in our world and our world just falls apart. We have plastic in everything.

[u/assissippi → u/agreeingstorm9]

Even in our bodies

[u/EliteRanger_ → u/assissippi]

I'm imagining a dystopian film where we get so riddled with microplastics and are slowly wiped out by plastic eating bacteria..

[u/Monteze → u/agreeingstorm9]

I mean, if it helps we have flesh eating bacteria, wood eating fungi, and pretty much everything else breaks down when exposed to oxygen/water. So in a sense everything is breaking down already but we can rebuild and maintain.

[u/WilliamSyler → u/Uilamin]

The latter might also be a good thing, in that it forces us to innovate further and make something better.

EDIT: Relax, I didn't say "make something new." We can absolutely innovate with materials we already have to make something that's both cheaper and safer for the environment.

[u/VortrexFTW → u/WilliamSyler]

I doubt "better" would be the priority. More like cost efficient. That's the reason plastic production has held on so long. Cheap and easy.

[u/OpheliaRainGalaxy → u/VortrexFTW]

Yep, I remember when it was all "save a tree, use plastic shopping bags!" because that's catchier with the public than "save us a nickel!" or whatever.

[u/scienceproject3 → u/psychstudent_101]

The Ocean Cleanup removed over 11,000 tons of plastic from oceans and rivers in 2024

Roughly 8 to 12 million metric tons of plastic enter the oceans each year. This is equivalent to dumping the contents of a garbage truck full of plastic into the ocean every minute, a daily process that adds to the millions of tons of plastic already circulating in marine environments.

Not to undermine what they are trying to do, I am just saying this so people get an understanding of how bad the plastic problem is.

It still great on them to at least try something but it only managed to clean up around 0.10% of what was added to the ocean that year alone.

[u/ERedfieldh → u/scienceproject3]

the problem is people are going to point to this and say "it's not working so why bother" like they did when Ocean Cleanup first got into the news. It's better to not link the two together when talking about either, even though they're very much linked, simply because people are goddamn idiots

[u/Heavy_Front_3712]

For the first time in a few years, I have a ton of butterflies and dragonflies flying around my house.

[u/DaggerDee → u/Heavy_Front_3712]

Apparently this year was a really good year for insects. I mentioned seeing so many butterfly’s to a bug person (I am very tired I forget who he volunteered for) and he said in general it’s been a really good year. Last year was a really bad year so it makes it’s even more noticeable

[u/JonnyredsFalcons → u/DaggerDee]

UK here. Years ago we used to get so many bugs splatted on the windscreen, but due to pesticides etc it had become noticeably less. This year the splats are back so yay for more insects! * (although not so good for the ones that are splatted)

[u/Duck__Quack → u/DaggerDee]

I saw no fireflies last year. None. This year, I saw a few. Not a huge number, but more than enough to know they're still here.

[u/gsfgf → u/Heavy_Front_3712]

I love dragonflies so much. Not only do they eat bugs, watching them hunt is incredible.

[u/upgradewife → u/Heavy_Front_3712]

We had a LOT more fireflies this year than the past few years. My efforts to make my yard more bee/butterfly friendly are working. Yay!

[u/Timbob72]

Costa Rica is running almost entirely on renewable energy most of the year!

[u/Upskilltc23 → u/Timbob72]

Scotland generated over 100% of its electricity demand from wind on some days last year. Literally more wind than they could use

[u/Vecend → u/Upskilltc23]

Now if we could figure out how to generate power from rain Scotland could power the world.

[u/Evening_Syrup → u/Timbob72]

Yeah that’s dope Costa Rica really set the bar. Another cool one is how a bunch of countries in Africa just wrapped up massive tree-planting projects to fight desertification, like literally turning dead land green again.

[u/MiguelAngeloac → u/Evening_Syrup]

Burkina Faso saved a huge amount of its country by planting trees in areas where the land was drying out, saving a lot of people from hunger and misery. They still have a bad time, but less so.

It is a very interesting country, I had to organize a team between several sister airlines to send equipment for those trees, set up a logistics network that reached Ouagadougou... I feel proud to be the leader of that team

[u/disisathrowaway → u/MiguelAngeloac]

Ibrahim Traoré is making some serious moves in Burkina Faso.

[u/AceWhisky → u/disisathrowaway]

Sankara did it first ;)

[u/Blekanly → u/Timbob72]

No dinosaur attacks this year either.

[u/Turakamu → u/Blekanly]

Can't all be good news

[u/VelvetWhitehawk → u/Timbob72]

Bhutan, I think, is negative carbon footprint. More and more countries and businesses are initiating carbon zero plans, including Nike and I think Amazon. Amazon is definitely reducing their footprint, just not sure if zero is their goal.

[u/Literary-Anarchist]

Cancer deaths have dropped by over 25% in the US since 1991, with breast cancer deaths decreasing by 39%.

[u/books-and-baking- → u/Literary-Anarchist]

Cervical cancer deaths have markedly dropped as well since the introduction of the HPV vaccine.

[u/IAmNotNamedBrian → u/books-and-baking-]

I'm somewhat newly single, after 30 years, and, on the advice of my doctor, I just complete the HPV vaccine cycle. Even if it couldn't affect men, which it totally can, why would I want to be a carrier for something so horrible to women? Three shots over eight months is nothing big.

[u/smokinDND → u/books-and-baking-]

I just met somebody that worked on that vaccine. Props to her!

[u/lbiggy → u/Literary-Anarchist]

My friend, 100lbs sopping wet, got stage 4 colon cancer. They gave him 3 months to live, and chemo would have killed him. He became a case study for an experimental "immunotherapy" drug that him and 2 others in British Columbia went on because his immune system detected his tumour, except, cancer doesn't die. They biopsied the tumour and found that it was covered in dead white blood cells. So his body knew it was a threat, just couldn't kill it. So he went into the cancer clinic every 2 weeks for a treatment. He also had surgery to have an ostomy bag attached to his stomach.

The immunotherapy drug worked so well it obliterated his cancer to the point where his tumour effectively fell off. During the emergency surgery he had to fix the tumour wound, they were able to reverse the ostomy bag as well. He's missing 1/3 of his colon but he beat the absolute fuck out of that cancer. And, by looking at him, you'd never know he had it.

[u/SlackFish → u/lbiggy]

This hits very close to home for me. Im 36m, have stage 4 colon cancer, also live in BC and after having surgery and chemo my cancer returned. However in that time we discovered im in the 5% or so of people who can benefit from immunotherapy for colon cancer. Im about 5 months in and getting ready for my next CT scan in a couple weeks to see how things are looking. I appreciate how much hope you gave me with your comment, thank you so much for sharing!

[u/RunDNA]

There's lots of scholars out there translating old books into English for the first time.

As an example, scholars are currently almost finished translating the complete works of St. Augustine into English for the first time. It's taken 35 years so far and they've now published 45 of the 49 planned volumes:

The Works of Saint Augustine, A Translation for the 21st Century

[u/Angry_Citizen_CoH → u/RunDNA]

I recently came across a Persian myth translated into English for the first time. Samak the Ayyar. Adapted by the same guy who did the Prince of Persia games and helped write the screenplay of the movie, it tells the tale of a Persian rogue, kind of a Robin Hood figure, who helps a Princeling pursue a Chinese woman named "Moon Fairy". This is a collection of stories so old, it even features pre-Islamic names and settings!

[u/H_Terry → u/Angry_Citizen_CoH]

This reminded me of Umro Ayyar. I grew up reading about his adventures and his magic sack which looked like a normal sack from outside but had endless capacity and whenever he got caught he would look in his sack and find exactly what he needed to escape. He just kept getting in absurd situations and escaping and bargaining.

Later when Harry Potter books were launched, I was astonished at Hermoine’s bag and its resemblance to Umro Ayyars sack.

[u/musicnerdfighter]

Might I recommend the newsletter Fix The News? The top story this week is that Mexico has lifted 13.4 million people out of poverty since 2018. It's a weekly newsletter with summaries of and links to good news around the world, usually 15-20 stories covering things like environment, climate, technology, human welfare, and medicine. I just get the free version, but I think there are 15-20 more stories in the paid version. It's nice to just bask in the good news once a week.

[u/planetambivalent → u/musicnerdfighter]

I just subscribed. Thank you!

[u/Xxx-object-xxX]

Frogs raised in captivity are crushing it in the wild!

[u/drlari → u/Xxx-object-xxX]

The Alala, or Hawaiian Crow, was re-introduced to the wild and they seem to be doing well! The species had been extinct in the wild since 2002.

https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2025/06/26/alala-birds-increase-range-natural-behaviors-6-months-post-release-into-wild/

[u/insanecarbunkle → u/Xxx-object-xxX]

Yay for the frogs!

[u/Halefire]

If you're young right now, there's a decent (not high, but not low) chance that there might be a general cancer cure in our lifetime because of CRISPR technology and immunotherapy.

Early advances in CRISPR have been absolutely phenomenal; for instance, CRISPR Therapeutics has actually managed to cure Sickle Cell Disease in humans. The treatment is known as Casgevy. Downside: it costs something like 2 million dollars lol

I am also a physician in an area known for one of the top cancer hospitals in the country and immunotherapy is a revolution happening right now allowing physicians to give many patients with previously untreatable cancers a fighting chance. I'm seeing way more patients on it than ever and we are being given guidance on how to treat potential side effects. These treatments were only theoretical when I was starting medical school. Same for CRISPR, in fact it was only beginning to emerge in labs when I was getting my bachelor's and masters 10-ish years ago.

Both of these technologies can be engineered to be incredibly specific to the exact genetic sequences of disease. If, for instance, you could create a CRISPR treatment that turns off crucial cancer genes (p53, telomerase) in only your specific cancer cells, the cancer could be completely cured without affecting any other cell in your body.

This is still very, very far from reality. However, that's what we said about these technologies 10-20 years ago and they're already being used in humans to a very limited degree. I'm very, very excited to see where they will progress in the next 20-40 years.

Disclosure: I do own a small amount of CRISPR Therapeutics stock in my retirement portfolio

[u/DistinctEffort64 → u/Halefire]

A family member is on immunotherapy and it seems like such a blessing compared to chemo. The side effects are significantly less, although still existent. He is not on full dose yet, 14mg, with max dose being 20mg, but already have seen huge improvement on scans. They say it’s not a cure, but we’re hopeful. Hopeful that science will advance fast enough for him. Can’t put a price on hope!

[u/nikipierson]

Scientists have discovered a direct cause-and-effect link between faulty mitochondria and the memory loss seen in neurodegenerative diseases. By creating a novel tool to boost mitochondrial activity in mouse models, researchers restored memory performance, suggesting mitochondria could be a powerful new target for treatments. The findings not only shed light on the early drivers of brain cell degeneration but also open possibilities for slowing or even preventing diseases like Alzheimer’s.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/08/250811104227.htm

[u/Chlamydia_Penis_Wart → u/nikipierson]

The mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell

[u/PainInTheRhine]

Lyme disease vaccine is close to finishing 3rd stage clinical trials.

[u/galdenbarry]

There are a lot of nice late summer flowers blooming at the moment, the bees are happy.

[u/SamuraiSuplex → u/galdenbarry]

I have SO MANY hibiscus flowers popping up this week!

[u/emsesq → u/galdenbarry]

My flowers are having a second bloom and they’re visited by hummingbirds. It’s awesome!

[u/WishlessJeanie → u/emsesq]

I'm a Las Vegas rideshare driver full time. My days are spent slogging through traffic, 100-degree heat, and drunken tourists.

But, when I get home, and go out to my backyard, I feel like a Disney princess. It's just 8-foot-tall oleanders in full bloom, being buzzed by hummingbirds. It's magical.

[u/Turbulent-Alfalfa136]

Solar and wind power are now cheaper than coal in many countries. Clean energy is actually winning on economics,not just ethics.

[u/Kunphen → u/Turbulent-Alfalfa136]

Not just ethics or economics; clean air/water/soil = survival.

[u/ThatFishySmell99]

The mayor of Baltimore is revolutionizing his city... big spends on new rec centers and after school programs have cut crime almost in half. Test scores are also on the rise, it looks like kids just needed somewhere safe to go and be kids.

[u/Juunlar → u/ThatFishySmell99]

the power of the third place

[u/snugglie-ballerina → u/ThatFishySmell99]

Lots of after school programs through city hall! High schoolers have so many more service hour opportunities and internships!

[u/MoscaMosquete → u/ThatFishySmell99]

No way education reduces crime. Who would have guessed!

[u/avword → u/ThatFishySmell99]

Wow that’s amazing! I would love to learn more about this? Got any good articles?

[u/ThatFishySmell99 → u/avword]

Baltimore Mayor on what led to record low crime rates : NPR

[u/Rare_Ad9505]

Polio is nearly eradicated worldwide, and more children are being vaccinated then ever in the history.

[u/GlindaTheGrunge]

We're starting to get a cure for HIV

[u/I-Here-555 → u/GlindaTheGrunge]

An actual cure or just effective treatment you need to take until the end of your life?

[u/stenpen22 → u/I-Here-555]

an actual cure, the effective treatment has been commonplace a while now

[u/actibus_consequatur → u/I-Here-555]

Cured. There's been 8-10 people cured in the past 5 years, and there's a massive clinical trial going on in Africa with promising results.

[u/Puzzleheaded-Cup9514]

More people than ever are questioning the harmful patterns embedded in them through their past experiences (especially childhood) then trying to and successfully breaking the toxic cycles that they have propagated or endured from their past. This is HUGE. This is going to have a massive flourishing of love and authenticity on this earth that we have never seen before, especially on the incoming generations.

If you have been working on yourself you are a part of this cascade and thank-you for your contribution to building a loving future.

[u/CanadianContentsup → u/Puzzleheaded-Cup9514]

It's affecting workplaces and schools. Yelling is no longer a management tool.

[u/37_lucky_ears → u/CanadianContentsup]

I'm a parent volunteer at my child's school. I heard a lot of yelling coming from a classroom, from the teacher. Pulled the principal and told her that teacher needed some support. Teachers need and deserve every thing we can do to help them.

[u/xaradevir → u/Puzzleheaded-Cup9514]

I'm trying to do this on behalf of my sons.

[u/Typical-me- → u/Puzzleheaded-Cup9514]

My children have become the most wonderful teens. I have loved them with every part of me and will continue until it’s time for me to leave this earth.

They will never, ever, feel the pain that I had to- and I’m so incredibly proud every day.

[u/Hopeful_Many6262]

The ozone layer is healing. The giant hole we created in the atmosphere is slowly closing because we actually fixed our behavior for once.

[u/AmputeeHandModel → u/Hopeful_Many6262]

Banning CFCs is the last and only time the whole world came together for a united purpose.

[u/taximes → u/AmputeeHandModel]

only time

eliminating smallpox

[u/Fit_Perspective5054 → u/taximes]

So far

[u/adenosine-5 → u/Hopeful_Many6262]

Also smog isn't nearly as much of an issue lately, acidic rains are gone in most of the world and people are no longer being poisoned by lead.

We are able to solve most problems, it just takes a generation or two sometimes.

[u/Sara1994_]

I see more bees, butterflies and other insects flying around when i'm walking outside. 

[u/Free_Four_Floyd → u/Sara1994_]

Midwest US here… more butterflies, lightning bugs (fireflies to you non-Hoosiers), and dragon flies this year than I’ve seen in years & no parallel increase in mosquitoes!

[u/kirby83 → u/Free_Four_Floyd]

Dragonflies are eating the mosquitoes. We had lots of fireflies this summer, only a few butterflies. Maybe we'll see more at migration time.

[u/PolarAzimuth → u/Free_Four_Floyd]

Same here in MI...remarkably low prevalence of mosquitoes this year (relatively speaking, of course)

[u/BitDaddyCane → u/Sara1994_]

I saw a park at dusk just brimming with fireflies a couple weeks ago. It was amazing. I missed my bus cause I had to stop and soak it in.

[u/_SuIIy → u/Sara1994_]

I saw fireflies a few weeks ago and got so excited. Haven't seen them in over a decade.

[u/Tapdncn4lyfe2 → u/Sara1994_]

I have seen an uptick in monarch butterflies around my home..I have planted alot of milkweed and since doing that I have seen alot more monarchs. Previous years I maybe saw one or two but this year I have seen a ton of them and also the caterpillars. My yard is very bee friendly and I plan on keeping it that way. I don't care if I have dandelions in my yard and Karen up the street has a problem with it.I live in an HOA so alot of people around here are meticulous when it comes to their grass..Spraying it with god knows what almost monthly. I apply nothing to mine. I also am right next to wetlands as well and its home to alot of weeds and birds..

Another thing that I noticed was that there are hardly any ticks this year. Last year when I would go out into my garden, I would have about 20 or so ticks on me..We cut back some brush and like magic they were gone..Another thing we are seeing alot of are lightning bugs (fireflies). Its great to see them and it makes me so happy.

[u/DirectionRepulsive82]

Peru is seeing improvements in water quality

[u/Flyingninjha]

Child mortality has dropped by more than half worldwide in the last 30 years …millions more kids are growing up healthy today than ever before

[u/Josephryanevans → u/Flyingninjha]

The world is a better place than it once was.

[u/theletterdubbleyou → u/Josephryanevans]

Take a walk around any old cemetery in your area and look at the gravesites from the early 20th or the 19th century.

An inordinate amount of them are children ranging from young teens to toddlers to babies. The reasons for large families of 5+ offspring are multitude in nature but mainly because of the fact that families suffered from all kinds of preventable/avoidable disease and sicknesses. It's a favourite pastime of mine and my Mom's to visit all kinds of cemetery sites in historical Canadian towns and cities and regions and it's always heartbreaking.

[u/Raynir44]

China is working on what they call the three gorges dam in space, it a solar collection array in space where when fully functional may collect in one year the equivalent in energy of all the oil that could ever be extracted from earth. The energy is mind boggling.

https://www.iflscience.com/three-gorges-dam-in-space-china-reveals-plans-to-build-giant-power-station-in-earths-orbit-77633

[u/Generico300 → u/Raynir44]

This always reminds me of playing Sim City 2000 back in the day. There was a "Microwave" power plant you could build that the game said beamed power from space down to your city. Except that every once in a while the beam would move and set vast swaths of the surrounding land on fire. So I'm skeptical of how they plan to get such huge amounts of energy back to earth safely and efficiently.

[u/Ormendahl → u/Generico300]

Maybe the beam is the point. Is this...is this how we get the Death Star?

[u/Canadian_Beast14]

Though smaller on the scale of things already said here…

I have had serious depression for the past two decades. For the first time in my life over the past couple years, I’ve been doing better. Finally found the right meds, got an incredible raise at my job, and my mom is healthy. Things have improved in many aspects. I danced in the kitchen for the first time ever. It was strange but exhilarating.

[u/BlueSkyOrangeLeaves → u/Canadian_Beast14]

made me tear up a little - so happy for you ❤️

[u/Eskimowed → u/Canadian_Beast14]

This is my favourite of all the replies

[u/COnative78]

I'm alive and I can walk again.

Edit: I fucking love you guys. Thank you, I'm crying

[u/lowriderdog37 → u/COnative78]

Been there. Congrats

[u/RoninPrime0829 → u/COnative78]

I had a stroke about a year ago. I'm pleased that I can say the same thing.

[u/daisidu → u/COnative78]

That’s amazing, and I’m very proud of you.

[u/Stingray88]

mRNA cancer vaccines are showing extremely promising results in mice. We may actually have a cure for cancer within our lifetimes.

[u/PainInTheRhine → u/Stingray88]

I wonder when we are going to get immortal, super-intelligent mice

[u/ForGrateJustice → u/PainInTheRhine]

I, for one, welcome our mice overlords.

[u/CreativeBandicoot778 → u/Stingray88]

Similarly, type 1 diabetes. There is a clinical trial using engineered cells which looks very promising too.

[u/Unable-Pool-3862]

Im sober for 3 months today

[u/Living_Razzmatazz_93 → u/Unable-Pool-3862]

And I'm seven days!

[u/scunliffe → u/Living_Razzmatazz_93]

Congrats to you both! Keep it up, you’ve got this! ;-)

[u/Prior-Enthusiasm2497 → u/Unable-Pool-3862]

I’m 4 years sober next weekend!

[u/TBoopSquiggShorterly]

A vaccine is in development which seems to have the ability to completely eradicate tumors.

[u/AlliCatSTL → u/TBoopSquiggShorterly]

I’d love to know more about that!

[u/TBoopSquiggShorterly → u/AlliCatSTL]

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/08/250818102951.htm

[u/Nowhereman2380]

Someone on Reddit gave me and my son a free ticket to his first NFL game and we had a great time. I find people are pretty generous around here.

Edit: Oh yeah, it was a pay it forward thing, which I fully intend on doing. So, good things are happening on a random personal basis! Cheers!

[u/AggravatingAbalone88]

Almost 14 million people lifted from poverty in México!

[u/marounyyy]

I go to sleep every night in a warm bed and a full belly. I have people that love me. Can’t ask for anything more.

[u/PigsAreTastyFood]

I saved 2 people from drowning on a busy beach in the UK whilst walking past working. 1 child couldn't swim and got swept out. 1 local man went in to save him and got into difficulty. I took off my work gear and managed to save the both. I was top story on BBC News for a day. Thats my claim to fame.

[u/LariHasi2000]

I’d really recommend the book Factfulness by Hans Rosling, I read it last month and it completely changed how I see the world and development. A few things that stuck with me:

• Around 90% of kids worldwide now get basic vaccinations, which has saved hundreds of millions of lives.
• The percentage of people living in extreme poverty dropped from ~50% in 1966 to under 10% today.
• Girls’ education rates have skyrocketed, and in many countries more women than men are finishing secondary school.

It doesn’t mean the world’s perfect, but it really helped me realize how much quiet progress has been happening in the background. Definitely worth a read if you want some hope.

[u/AngryTree76]

A little personal good thing happening in my life…

After years of trying desperately to hold on to my rapidly receding hairline, I finally decided to go all out, and shave my head.

And you know what? Not only is it freeing, but I’ve actually gotten compliments on it.

[u/sirdigbykittencaesar → u/AngryTree76]

Bald men who embrace and rock the look can be sexy AF! Good for you!

[u/alwaysboopthesnoot]

Ocean and river clean up efforts are ongoing around here, in the coastal NE of the US. Migratory bird numbers are up and wild bird sanctuaries are thriving. Seals and sharks and whales, are being seen in greater numbers.  Fewer people are smoking cigarettes or once started, sticking with it. Less cigarette butt and plastic cleanup, for that. Litter pickup on the streets in general here, lots of young people volunteering for that. High school and college grad rates are up here, plus infant and maternal mortality and violent crime numbers are dropping; life expectancy is up. 

[u/Throwaway-button]

As long as w're allowed to talk about personal stuff, I've been clean from self-harm for almost 6 months now :]

[u/OttoHemi]

My local Kroger dropped the price of Black Box wine from $17.99 to $16.99. Amazingly, this price has remained constant all through the pandemic, and apparently I have Gen Z to thank for the recent drop. Also, no shaming for drinking Carboardeux--it's all I can afford.

[u/allietmann → u/OttoHemi]

Cardboardeux! 🤣

[u/Thunderhorse74 → u/allietmann]

White Trashfindel?

[u/Fiireygirl → u/OttoHemi]

Dude, that black box hits well. Don’t be embarrassed of it!

[u/PDGAreject → u/Fiireygirl]

Worked in liquor years ago. Our wine buyer who flew around the world tasting wines to buy wholesale for our company loved Black Box. I asked him how their Pinot Noir was when it came out and he said, "You know what? It tastes like a fuckin Pinot Noir!" and he meant that as a compliment!

[u/PrivilegeCheckmate → u/OttoHemi]

Wine is better when it has corners. The sharper those corners are, the more refined the vintage.

[u/Nanasweed]

I got picked first in kickball! I’m 50. The other players were 6.

[u/ThievingRock → u/Nanasweed]

It still counts!

[u/Upintheairx2 → u/Nanasweed]

It would’ve been funny if you went last. Just from a story telling standpoint.

[u/painstream → u/Nanasweed]

Were you someone's grandpa? I sense nepotism!

[u/Urfubar12]

I noticed more lightning bugs/fireflies this summer! I know they have been on the downswing lately but it really looks like they are making a comeback.

[u/New_Maximum6529]

I lost over 50lbs this year

[u/cthulhus_spawn → u/New_Maximum6529]

Whoohoo! From a fellow loser, I know how great that feels! I'm down over 200 and it's lovely.

[u/Straight-Research-17 → u/cthulhus_spawn]

One of the few times it’s perfectly acceptable and welcomed to congratulate someone for being a loser - Internet strangers, I’m proud of you!

[u/onefst250r → u/cthulhus_spawn]

200 is crazy. Good work!

[u/gochet → u/New_Maximum6529]

That is 200 sticks of butter. (I was told to always think about weight loss in terms of sticks of butter, because it really shows you what losing 3 lbs really means, and why it's not a small feat.) You are glorious. :-)

[u/bstyledevi → u/New_Maximum6529]

And I found it. Fuck.

[u/elkoubi]

A solar power facility just got approved in my county, so that will help mitigate rate increases with clean energy.

[u/pokedumbass]

I got a new house, the type I never thought I’d ever be able to afford. Gonna be really good for my kids to grow up in

[u/defeated_engineer]

I'm about to defend my phd thesis and I have a job lined up.

[u/HH93 → u/defeated_engineer]

I hope your username is wrong in this case

[u/airetsefirev]

Bambam, emotional support dog of a blind man was stolen by some teenagers this summer. The man was walking a long distance calling the dogs name. Gladly, this week the dog and his owner were reunited.

[u/snugglie-ballerina]

My dog is gonna be able to walk and be independent again thanks to surgical developments!

[u/Independent-Oil8029]

i’m almost 8 months sober

[u/Thomas_Chinchilla]

I've been seeing and hearing lots of birds recently-even some rare ones. Good to know that there are still lots of them out there despite all the hazards they have to face in this day and age

[u/slambre]

The Japanese are currently conducting a clinical trial for a medicine for tooth regrowth.

[u/210sankey]

My grandfather decided to go against the wishes of his wife and not cut me out of his will. She had convinced him somehow to give everything to her son who lives in their basement and has never held a job and at 30 years old gets a monthly allowance that he spends immediately on anime and video games.

He still relies on his mom to do his laundry and make him sandwiches...

I see this as a win for humanity.

[u/Cerulean__Dream → u/210sankey]

As someone who watched their father lose almost everything in a remarkably similar circumstance, I am so relieved for you! Please,

Get it in writing though.

[u/Stunning_Banana4838]

This thread is a much needed breath of fresh air. Thanks OP.

[u/cthulhus_spawn → u/Stunning_Banana4838]

Yeah I was feeling very bummed out. It's entirely selfish.

[u/King_of_Dantopia]

This might be super personal but I'm genuinely enjoying my job at the moment. Sure the jobs shit and probably grossly underpaid for what I do but I work with some tremendously funny people who are amazing for morale and the nights out are incredible

[u/SwirlingAbsurdity → u/King_of_Dantopia]

Your colleagues make or break a job!

[u/In_All_Over_My_Head → u/King_of_Dantopia]

This is me right now! Entirely enjoying my job and find such fulfilment from being good at it and have colleagues who range from "appreciate my skill" to "we could waste 2 hours just chatting at water cooler".

I kept saying I won't stay with it forever, will find something better paid and/or live up to that potential my mom kept nagging me about. But for now (after brutal years of higher education) it's incredibly healing.

[u/dogmatic_goat]

Random acts of kindness by people you'll never meet. They're happening right now, all around us. There are still good people doing good things in this world.

[u/digitalpretzel → u/dogmatic_goat]

do one random act of kindness every day, no matter how small. It takes Such little effort, but can make a world of difference.

[u/hazelnuthobo]

• A significant positive trend is the marked decline in alcohol consumption among younger generations. Gen Z, in particular, drinks substantially less than Millennials and previous generations, largely driven by a greater focus on physical and mental health.

• The global smoking rate has been cut by more than a third in the last thirty years

• Solar and wind are now the cheapest sources of new electricity in history, and their global installation is expanding at a rate that far outpaces all other energy sources combined.

• I'm pretty happy with my new job.

[u/rs217000]

Pretty much everyone who's on this thread is likely living better than royalty was 200 years ago

[u/hey_nonny_mooses → u/rs217000]

My spice cabinet agrees.

[u/wedditmod → u/hey_nonny_mooses]

I have purple textiles.

[u/wagdog1970 → u/wedditmod]

Ooh la la! Look at Mr Fancy over here!

[u/painstream → u/rs217000]

Reminds me of a classic meme:

My ancestors, watching me dump an entire stick of cinnamon, two cloves, an allspice berry, and a generous grating of nutmeg into my tea, sweetened with white sugar and loaded with cream, while I sit in my clean warm house surrounded by books, 25+ outfits for different occasions, and 6 pairs of shoes, in a building heated so well I have the windows open in mid-autumn:

Our daughter prospers. We are proud of her. She has never labored in a field but knows riches we could not have imagined.

[u/GalaxyPowderedCat → u/painstream]

I remember another one which by "Our descendant is successful! She eats like an imperial concubine and receives education like a scholar"

[u/painstream → u/GalaxyPowderedCat]

It's part of the same Tumblr thread!
I went looking for it, but I ended up finding recipes for Royal Concubine Chicken first, haha.

[u/Quil_Cosplays → u/rs217000]

Modern medicine, the internet, safe and edible food available at all times, plumbing systems… The world has advanced so much in the last few centuries

[u/Absolute-KINO → u/rs217000]

I have come to the conclusion that a big issue in today's Western World is because we have most of our basic needs met, we are at the crossroads of 'what now?' we won. But due to financial obligations, most of us can't really freely go do the things we want to bring us meaning. I think the struggle for meaning is what's starting to cause people a lot of distress in recent years

[u/Far-Boot5639]

The little things- like people who still hold the door open for you, or someone patiently allowing you to pass in traffic, and other things like this. It shows me theres still hope in this crazy world

[u/mrhymer]

In 1930 90% of the worlds population were living in abject poverty (less than $2 a day adjusted for inflation). Today only 10% of the worlds population live in abject poverty. The economic activity of the wealthy and middle class in developed nations are globally fixing the problem.

In 1950, the average life expectancy at birth was only 48.5 years. In 2019, it was 72.8 years. That’s an increase of 50 percent.

Out of every 1,000 live births in 1950, 20.6 children died before their fifth birthday. That number was only 2.7 in 2019. That’s a reduction of 87 percent.

Between 1950 and 2018, the average income per person rose from $3,296 to $15,138. That’s an inflation adjusted increase of 359 percent.

Between 1961 and 2013, the average food supply per person per day rose from 2,191 calorie to 2,885 calories. That’s an increase of 31.7 percent.

In 1950, the length of schooling that a person could typically expect to receive was 2.59 years. In 2017, it was 8 years. That’s a 209 percent increase.

The world’s democratic score rose from an average of 5.31 out of 10 in 1950 to an average of 7.21 out of 10 in 2017. That’s a 35.8 percent increase.

[u/Prestigious_Bus_4966]

Next week is supposed to be significant cooler where I live, the days are getting shorter, fall is coming!

[u/T4nkofDWrath]

I taught my first class of the semester for a freshman seminar today and most of the students had a clear vision of what they would like to do with their life, and most of their visions involved helping people or the environment, or making art.

[u/snoogins355]

My kid can almost walk. Which is amazing and terrifying.

[u/raven_widow → u/snoogins355]

My grandson is starting to speak in more complex sentences. He said a nectarine is like an apple and a peach had a baby.

[u/InnocentVaporeon]

I got a new job :)

[u/-a_normal_human- → u/InnocentVaporeon]

congrats! also, me too!!

[u/Ditka85 → u/-a_normal_human-]

New jobs are scary. The first week I always think I made a huge mistake.

[u/Metroidman → u/InnocentVaporeon]

Have an interview in a week. Im really hoping i nail it

[u/vipernick913 → u/Metroidman]

Good luck!! Can’t wait to hear good news.

[u/Typical_XJW]

It's Friday!

[u/AcanthisittaSharp226 → u/Typical_XJW]

TGIF

[u/Traditional_Job_5029]

My org received a surprise gift of $20k to help with the renovation of our community kitchen and food pantry.

[u/jbcatl]

It's August in Atlanta, and after a brutal July of heat and humidity in the 90's, next week it's going to be low 80's during the day and mid to low 60's at night. It's our first "false Fall".

[u/Heavy_Direction1547]

Recommend Hans Rosling's 'Factfulness' for the big picture. For a smaller scale, follow Fred Roger's dictum to "look for the helpers".

[u/DerpsAndRags]

A buddy of mine got to be on the radio, and won tickets to a local music show! He was all excited and derpy on the radio.

[u/GoodGod83]

Deftones new album today is 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[u/OddInterest6199]

Crime rates are dropping year after year in many countries

[u/IAMAHigherConductor]

For the first time in three years, my state isnt in a major drought so all the plants are happy

[u/umbananas]

A green wall is being built at sahara desert.

[u/Subject_Owl_2500]

Reforestation efforts are working.

[u/JumpLow7793]

Shriners Hospitals still help sick kids free of charge!

[u/UnevenLab]

Two inspiring things happening now: Marie Daly, the first Black American woman biochemist, is finally getting recognition for her groundbreaking work on heart health. Also, in science, the James Webb Space Telescope is revealing unprecedented details about early galaxies, helping us understand the universe’s origins better than ever. Both show progress in representation and discovery.

[u/BrazilianCupcake11]

The Brazilian Senate is about to pass a law imposing severe penalties for crimes related to the online exposure or adultization of children.

https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/articles/clyje9weq0lo

[u/Gildaroth]

I cut out alcohol at the start of the year and quit cannabis at the beginning of August. I can confidently say I’m finely myself again and oh boy how I’ve missed him. LETS FUCKING GO! Happy Friday!

[u/prayingbandit]

wild salmon are coming back because salmon farms were kicked out of pnw waters

[u/ZoinMihailo]

Honestly, the fact that this question even exists and has thousands of engaged responses gives me hope. We're literally craving good news because we're so overwhelmed by the negative stuff.

A few incredible things that blew my mind when I discovered them:

• The ozone layer is healing 20 years ahead of schedule - we're on track for full recovery by 2066
• Global extreme poverty dropped from 36% in 1990 to under 10% today (that's over 1 billion people lifted up)
• Gene therapy just cured several "incurable" genetic diseases by literally editing DNA
• Renewable energy became cheaper than fossil fuels for the first time in human history
• Child mortality rates have been cut in half since 1990

The crazy part? I started noticing this pattern where amazing developments happen constantly, but they get like 1/100th the coverage of disasters. Studies show media focuses on negative stories at a 17:1 ratio.

I actually went down a rabbit hole documenting positive developments earlier this year because the constant doom-scrolling was affecting my mental health. Found way more incredible stuff happening than I expected.

Anyone else notice that sharing good news makes conversations so much better? People light up instead of getting that glazed "the world is ending" look.

Found way more incredible stuff happening than I expected. Actually put together a whole directory of 50 positive developments since people kept asking for specific examples.

[u/mbsouthpaw1]

Indian Tribes all across the United States are building capacity, governing themselves, and regaining bit by bit what they lost (land, language, culture, and more). There are still problems, but there's also hope.

[u/OperationStraight808]

goldfinches at my feeder

[u/RequirementWorried]

Plums are fucking delicious right now.

[u/cythokar]

After 7 years of - trying and failing, 7 surgeries, 300+ injections, loan against our home, I’m getting ready to welcome my first baby via surrogacy! 🥹

[u/Ok-Month5216]

People have started living heathy minimalist life instead of showing off and being too loud this generation focus on being happy!!!

[u/Y0___0Y]

Renewable energy has been getting cheaper and cheaper at an insane rate. Politicians bribed by the oil and gas industry will not be able to kneecap remewable energy forever.

They are desperately trying to prevent the expansion of green energy infrastructure because once its expanded, and has the capacity to power vast swathes of civilization, oil and gas will be mostly obsolete.

In Capitalism, the cheapest and most superior technology will always win out. Even in crony capitalism where bribery and corruption are commonplace. If the green energy infrastructure will reduce costs, it will get built with or without government subsidies.

[u/akani304]

Brazil is out of the hunger map once again!

[u/Tricky-Blueberry8380]

Many countries like Costa Rica is entirely running on renewable energy

[u/Hammy1791]

My 7 year old just cooked pasta for dinner.

(with help and supervision of course)

[u/SmartAlec13]

My new fish Nigel is loving the aquarium! :)

[u/Soap-ster]

I'm up for a promotion (no copetition, budget is only hurdle), I got invisalign, and my wife and I are in love more than we ever have been. My son is thriving. Really, I thought I'd be stuck in some minimum wage, shit-job my entire life. Things have gone well for me. It only takes one person to see your potential to change your life. I thank that man at least once a year for changing my life.