Of News and Positivity

In news and in media - as many people frequent in their daily lives, - encountering negative news may be the norm. No matter where you go online, there is evidently always something new and troubling happening in the world, whether it be in politics, local tragedies, or global turmoil in war and such. Many media outlets, whether by algorithm or intentionally, mostly report the negative news that anger or sadden readers. So where is the good news to be found when it seems to be in sparsity? Though it is in abundance, it does not reach us as easily when bad news almost seems magnetic. Rest assured that though there is much frustration in the world, a respect must be owed to those who work solely to improve it and make life better for us. This brand of news is the kind that I will be focusing on, showing that we as a people do indeed have great things to look forward to. There will soon be a net positive increase in trees rather than a decrease. Despite mass deforestation in the name of industry, there are more trees on earth today than there were 35 years ago. University of Maryland’s study on this tree growth was conducted using satellite imagery, showing how Earth has altered over 35 years. The study concluded that 2.24 square kilometers of land, roughly the combined surface area of Texas and Alaska combined, has been added to global tree coverage. Cardinal George Pell, 3rd-highest ranking member of the Catholic Church, has been jailed for child sex abuse. There has been an infamous history of the Catholic Church dismissing such allegations against clergymen as false, especially pertaining to higher-ranking church officials. Although under Pope Francis, justice is brought to these offenders that have flourished through a corrupt network of bishops and cardinals. Pope Francis has even declared an “all-out-battle” on abuse to ensure that no incident goes dismissed and that no victim is left unheard. The James Webb Space Telescope is set to launch in 2021 as the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. The Hubble gave us invaluable insight into the formation of our solar system and the galaxies, championing research grounds for decades. Now with this feat of unprecedented engineering, the JWST, we will be able to peer even deeper into the universe, and thus, further back in time to give us insights to the early universe and its properties. The scope of its viewing capabilities extends to using spectroscopy to tell us the chemical makeup of the atmospheres of Earth-like exoplanets, potentially detecting alien life. There are currently dozens of malaria vaccine candidates that seem promising and will hopefully be effective and affordable. Malaria has killed more human beings than any single thing in history, still plaguing multiple continents. This disease is among the most lethal and difficult to treat, even affecting local economies and societies where it is prevalent. Purchasing medication, travel costs to seek aid, and burial expenses take their toll on victims and their families, while maintenance costs, health facility staffing, drug and supply costs, and public health interventions impair a considerable economic loss to governments. Malaria is most prominent in Africa, where the Centers for Disease Control and the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation are on-site to research and treat infected patients. With many trials and advancements for vaccines being made, a definitive malaria vaccine may soon become a reality, finally offering a great boon to countries worldwide that are plagued by malaria. Breakthroughs in fusion energy are being made regularly and will continue to make exciting news. Weekly results are being produced in which plasma is kept stable for longer periods of time and at higher temperatures. As a result, there will be more feasible applications of fusion energy in more widespread locations. WIth international collaboration on building prototypes of positive net energy fusion reactors, the world will essentially be changed overnight. This means free energy, very little pollution, basically forever. Beyond these few nuggets of good news, many more positive events exist to be in awe of. There are wonderful things being conducted in our world that will improve life for people around the globe. With the coming of these events will follow even greater achievements, advancing humans to accomplish great feats of technological and humanitarian benefit. So don’t let troubling current events bring you down. Behind the dark curtain are many excitement developments in human innovation and generosity.