Uplifting / Positive News Stories

[Sara Nilsson]

https://www.apnews.com/f99a0972daf043a5b2e7be7deb3d5d0d/Australian-Parliament-allows-same-sex-marriages

Australian Parliament says yes to same-sex marriage.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s Parliament voted Thursday to allow same-sex marriage across the nation, following a bitter debate settled by a much-criticized government survey of voters that strongly endorsed change.

The public gallery in the House of Representatives erupted with applause when the bill passed. It changes the definition of marriage from solely between a man and a woman to “a union of two people” excluding all others. The legislation passed with a majority that wasn’t challenged, although four lawmakers registered their opposition.

“What a day. What a day for love, for equality, for respect. Australia has done it,” Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told Parliament.

The Senate passed the same legislation last week 43 votes to 12. The government later announced that same-sex couples will be able to apply to marry starting Saturday, with the first weddings potentially from Jan. 6.

wonderful!!! That really made me smile.

[Cassandra LeMay]

Hopeful Images from 2017, courtesy of The Atlantic

[Arianna]

Hopeful Images from 2017, courtesy of The Atlantic

Just wanted to say I needed this, and thank you.

[Sain]

To me this was the real positive news of the year.

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2017-12-milestone-year-gene-therapy-medicine.html
In a milestone year, gene therapy finds a place in medicine


I may have linked before, but this needs more highlighting. People born blind are starting to see and other incurable diseases finally have a way to get cured. I hope governments and healthcare organizations around the world make the transition of these therapies into common use as this and other gene-editing technologies are just amazing beyond words.

[Szandor]

https://www.salon.com/2017/12/29/obama-twitter-good-news-2017/
Hope everyone had a good New Years!

[Deamonbane]

Happy New Years, folks :)

[Blythe]

To me this was the real positive news of the year.

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2017-12-milestone-year-gene-therapy-medicine.html
In a milestone year, gene therapy finds a place in medicine


I may have linked before, but this needs more highlighting. People born blind are starting to see and other incurable diseases finally have a way to get cured. I hope governments and healthcare organizations around the world make the transition of these therapies into common use as this and other gene-editing technologies are just amazing beyond words.

I'm always seriously excited to read more about developments with gene therapy. I consider it to be utterly amazing and miraculous. It's things like that that make me love science. If you find more about gene therapy, please do share it here, Sain. :)

Hopeful Images from 2017, courtesy of The Atlantic

This is wonderful, thank you for sharing. :)

https://www.salon.com/2017/12/29/obama-twitter-good-news-2017/
Hope everyone had a good New Years!

I like seeing prominent figures spreading the word about good news--thanks for this, Szandor.

Happy New Years, folks :)

Happy new year!  8-)

[Sain]

This was another pretty amazing one considering how indoor farming is on the rise (at least in here where farming in the snow isn't that viable).

Pioneering new technology set to accelerate the global quest for crop improvement

Speed breeding means that it is now possible to grow as many as 6 generations of wheat every year -- a threefold increase on the techniques currently used by breeders and researchers. Credit: John Innes Centre

Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2018-01-technology-global-quest-crop.html#jCp

[Sain]

I'm always seriously excited to read more about developments with gene therapy. I consider it to be utterly amazing and miraculous. It's things like that that make me love science. If you find more about gene therapy, please do share it here, Sain. :)

This piece talks a little bit about a significant real world challenge for some gene therapies. It's not strictly uplifting in nature, but I'd consider hearing about people considering every practical challenge as a positive sign of their dedication to the task.

[Orval Wintermute]

Say what you like about the Catholic church as a whole but Pope Francis seems like one of the good ones.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/18/wing-prayer-pope-francis-marries-couple-papal-plane-chile
Instead of just blessing a couple's civil marriage the Pope performed the official Catholic ceremony. If the couple can't dine out on "the Pope married us in mid-air" for at least the next decade there is something wrong with the world.

[Arianna]

Say what you like about the Catholic church as a whole but Pope Francis seems like one of the good ones.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/18/wing-prayer-pope-francis-marries-couple-papal-plane-chile
Instead of just blessing a couple's civil marriage the Pope performed the official Catholic ceremony. If the couple can't dine out on "the Pope married us in mid-air" for at least the next decade there is something wrong with the world.

That made me tear up a little. I love this man so much... He is what this world needed.

[TheGlyphstone]

That made me tear up a little. I love this man so much... He is what this world needed.

He really is. I just wish he was younger, because I really get the sense sometimes that he genuinely wants to drag the Catholic Church by the scruff of its neck into a more progressive stance. But he's really old, even by pope standards (ninth oldest to be elected, apparently), and fighting two thousand years of inertia will take time. Hopefully his eventual successor takes up where he leaves off.

[Lilias]

Finally some good news on the cancer front.

https://www.genomeweb.com/immunoassays/johns-hopkins-led-team-develops-blood-test-detect-multiple-early-stage-cancers

[Oniya]

https://arstechnica.com/science/2018/01/peeved-by-price-gouging-and-shortages-hospitals-will-now-make-their-own-drugs/

Four of the US's major hospital systems are starting a non-prof to keep prices for generic drugs down and supplies up.  Still very hush-hush on details, but a well-deserved slap in the face to Pharma-boy Shkreli and his ilk.

[Valerian]

I happened across this while reading up on some other (much more depressing) news, so finding this story made me feel better about the world.

Train passenger wakes to find £100 gift from stranger

[Blythe]

I happened across this while reading up on some other (much more depressing) news, so finding this story made me feel better about the world.

Train passenger wakes to find £100 gift from stranger

Really loved this, thank you for posting it, Val. ^^

[Lilias]

Carrie Fisher's posthumous Grammy win.

http://ew.com/music/2018/01/28/carrie-fisher-wins-grammy-spoken-word-album/

Space mama did us proud. <3

[Sain]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFuA50H9uek

Technically everything these guys do counts as news, and I find them super uplifting so here goes ;D

Feel kinda sorry for the robot there. It's amazing though how quick they're advancing. Multipurpose helper robots might not be too far away!

[Callie Del Noire]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFuA50H9uek

Technically everything these guys do counts as news, and I find them super uplifting so here goes ;D

Feel kinda sorry for the robot there. It's amazing though how quick they're advancing. Multipurpose helper robots might not be too far away!

I’m waiting for the day one of these bots mule kicks that guy. :)

[RampantDesires]

I needed to feel better about the world today and this helped...

Legalization of same-sex marriage linked to reduction of suicide attempts among high school students

Also proof that me being a hermit is good for the environment!

Staying home...

[RampantDesires]

Not really a news news story, but it made me happy anyway. 

[Sain]

Dietary supplement shows promise for reversing cardiovascular aging

Original article

I for one am always happy to hear that some studies are actually getting to the bottom of aging related issues. Read about some in vitro NAD+ tests some years ago, then mouse, and now looks like they're finally getting evidence with human experiments. Really great. And as an added bonus if it affects cardio vascular diseases then there's probably incentive for big pharmas to adopt and push this treatment into market at some decent pace!

[Sara Nilsson]

https://www.tehvibes.com/technology/by-2019-the-first-bionic-kidney-will-discard-the-need-for-dialysis/

More breakthroughs in bionic kidneys.

Scientists from the University of California, San Francisco have managed to create the first bionic kidney that can replace damaged kidneys. This kidney is a perfect replica for human kidney and should save millions of lives. The bionic kidney can be put into the human body by plain surgery and so far it has been shown to work effectively with everyone. It consists several microchips that are working with the work of the heart. This bionic kidney filtrates toxins from the blood in the same way as human kidneys.

[RampantDesires]

https://www.tehvibes.com/technology/by-2019-the-first-bionic-kidney-will-discard-the-need-for-dialysis/

More breakthroughs in bionic kidneys.

This rocks my world. <3

[Blythe]

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180410084233.htm

This was super cool. Scientists were able to induce some sensation in the arm of a paralyzed man via brain stimulation. This has some potentially groundbreaking medical implications! ^^