Good News!

There seems to be so much bad news around that it seems our world is going to 'hell in a handbasket'. It is really a case of "if it bleeds it leads". The good news just doesn't get the headlines if there is some bad news around to supplant it. To redress this imbalance this page is focused only on good news. I am reliant for my good news to a great extent on a recent gift from one of my sisters called "Beautiful News" by David McCandless. If you cannot wait for my snippets, buy the book. Well worth the investment.

• The first artificial heart was implanted on 9 July 24. Noted in small articles the event has had scant attention. I guess we are saving the excitement until we know it significantly extends life. Yet it is a fantastic achievement and if proven to be effective over the medium turn could have consequences as far-reaching as the first heart transplant some 60 years ago. This is great news!

• Life Expectancy is Increasing. Life expectancy at birth has increased dramatically in most countries in the world, from under 40 in the late 19th Century up to around 75+ years in 2021.

• Fewer Children are dying. In 1820 43% of children born did not live past the age of 5. In 2020 this had dropped to 3.7%. In more developed countries it is less than 0.5%. Investigate further at Our World in Data - Youth mortality rate

• Extreme Poverty is decreasing. Extreme poverty defined as living for less than $2.15 per day has decreased from over 35% of the world in 1990 to less than 10% of the world in 2019. 

• Since 1986 we've decommissioned 85% of the World's Nukes. From a stockpile of 70,000 nuclear warheads in 1986 the stockpile has been reduced to 12,000 in 2017.