Despite all the negative news, stories and analysis of the world and many countries, the world is actually getting better, more peaceful, have less famine-related problems. Human progress continues, human prosperity expands, despite climate alarmism and health worryism that also expands in many sectors of the planet.
Here's my quick top 10 good news about the world. Thanks to this article,
Two cheers for 2015
for some leads. If I have more time to search, this list can have minor change but this is fine already.
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1. Proportion of the world’s population that is
undernourished decreased from 19 percent in 1990 to 11 percent in 2014.
2. World famine is declining. The nearly 4 million victims
are mostly from only 2 countries – Somalia (0.3 to 0.5 M) and N. Korea (2.8 to
3.5 M).
3. Child mortality rate has declined by around 50 percent
between 1990 and 2015. Similar trend in infant mortality.
4. HUMANS 2.0: HOW THE ROBOT REVOLUTION IS GOING TO CHANGE
HOW WE SEE, FEEL, AND TALK
by Nick Heath
Robots aren't going
to replace us, but by working hand in hand with us they will redefine what it
means to be human.
The year is 2025.
You're sitting in a surgery watching your doctor carefully insert the tips of
her fingertips into black thimble-like actuators. A screen in front of the
doctor flashes with the image of a glistening tunnel of flesh and, as she
huddles over the controls, you feel a stirring in your bowels.
The gelatinous mass
you feel coming to life inside you found its way into your body 24 hours
earlier, when you swallowed a pill that looked unremarkable, save for its bulk.
That pill was actually a package of edible electronics, a miniature robot that
will allow the doctor to feel inside your body without making a single
incision. This is the coming world of augmented humans, where technology gifts
people senses, skills, and strengths never before available.
5. Merck CEO: Major Breakthrough in Lung Cancer Treatment
By Julia Limitone, December 21, 2015
Merck CEO Kenneth
Frazier said the company has found, based on new data released over the
weekend, how its immune therapy drug Keytruda may help to fight advanced lung
cancer.
“This is a new
category of drugs that stimulates the body’s immune system,” explained Frazier
who singled out the patients who may see the biggest benefit. “With respect to
the people who are the sickest lung cancer patients, we now know, using
Keytruda will extend their life by approximately 13 months on average. We know
that it will reduce the risk of death by 30-40% for people who had failed on
standard chemo-therapy.”
6. Malaria vaccine gets 'green light'
Fergus Walsh, Medical correspondent
24 July 2015
The world's first
malaria vaccine has cleared one of the final hurdles prior to being approved
for use in Africa. The European Medicines Agency gave a positive scientific
opinion after assessing its safety and effectiveness.
Malaria kills around
584,000 people a year worldwide, most of them children under five in
sub-Saharan Africa. Mosquirix, otherwise known as the RTS,S vaccine, is the
first against a parasitic infection in humans. Dr Ripley Ballou, head of
research at GSK vaccines, said: "This is a hugely significant moment. I've
been working on this vaccine for 30 years and this is a dream come true."
7. Intelligence genes discovered by scientists
By Sarah Knapton, Science Editor
21 Dec 2015
Imperial College
London has found that two networks of genes determine whether people are
intelligent or not so bright.
They liken the gene
network to a football team. When all the players are in the right positions,
the brain appears to function optimally, leading to clarity of thought and what
we think of as quickness or cleverness. However when the genes are mutated or in
the wrong order, it can lead to dullness of thinking, or even serious cognitive
impairments.
“What’s exciting
about this is that the genes we have found are likely to share a common
regulation, which means that potentially we can manipulate a whole set of genes
whose activity is linked to human intelligence. Our research suggests that it
might be possible to work with these genes to modify intelligence, but that is
only a theoretical possibility at the moment – we have just taken a first step
along that road.”
8. Breakthrough could make graphene 100 times cheaper
By Andrew Wade 18th November 2015
Researchers from
Glasgow University have discovered a new method for producing graphene that
could make it 100 times cheaper.
“The
commercially-available copper we used in our process retails for around one
dollar per square metre, compared to around $115 for a similar amount of the
copper currently used in graphene production. This more expensive form of
copper often required preparation before it can be used, adding further to the
cost of the process.”
Hailed by some as a
’wonder material’ since its discovery in the 2000s, graphene has a range of
potential uses, from electronics and sensors, to energy storage and healthcare.
Dahiya’s personal area of interest is synthetic skin, and he believes graphene
could help produce prosthetics capable of delivering complex sensation to the
wearers.
9. World Bank Forecasts Global Poverty to Fall Below 10% for
First Time; Major Hurdles Remain in Goal to End Poverty by 2030, October 4,
2015
The Bank uses an
updated international poverty line of US $1.90 a day, which incorporates new
information on differences in the cost of living across countries (the PPP
exchange rates). The new line preserves the real purchasing power of the
previous line (of $1.25 a day in 2005 prices) in the world’s poorest countries.
Using this new line (as well as new country-level data on living standards),
the World Bank projects that global poverty will have fallen from 902 million
people or 12.8 per cent of the global population in 2012 to 702 million people,
or 9.6 per cent of the global population, this year.
The WB and other government multilateral/foreign aid agencies can argue that it was because of "more government" that poverty has declined. Maybe yes, but likely not. Why? Because it's always the endless innovation in the private sector -- often curtailed by endless permits, taxes and bureaucracies -- under a competitive environment, that fuels those new inventions in healthcare and other sectors of the economy.
10. My favorite -- declining and staying low, world oil prices.
More enterprise competition and innovation, less government taxes and bureaucracies, they are the key to sustain global peace and prosperity.
A happy and prosperous new year 2016.
