NATALIE PATTERSON
These days, it’s easy to feel like everything is bad. And by “everything,” I mean politics, the environment, staggering rates of mental illness, diseases in our food, a dead Mars rover, the crushing social constraints of society, your highlighter looking a little splotchy, etc., etc. Little do you know, good things are happening in the world. Here are a few good news items to keep in mind during your next breakdown:
- Mexican scientist Eva Ramon Gallegos has successfully eliminated the HPV virus in twenty-nine infected patients using non-invasive photodynamic therapy, being the first person to find a definitive cure. This may help prevent the development of cervical cancer.
- 12,000 tons of orange peels dumped in a barren pasture in Costa Rica in the 1990s have grown into a thriving, sumptuous forest, with richer soil and a wider variety of tree species.
- For the first time in a hundred years, there has been scientific documentation of black leopards, also known as super-rare melanistic leopards, in Africa.
- Chemical conversion technology developed at Purdue University has the ability to turn plastic waste into fuel. Scientists are now looking for investors, if you’re interested and have disposable income!
- The egg that beat Kylie Jenner on Instagram for most-liked photo is now spreading messages of positivity. Advertising agent Chris Godfrey, the man behind the egg, has started a mental-health campaign, and was recently featured in an ad that ran during the Superbowl. In the ad, “Eugene the World Record Egg” says, “The pressure of social media is getting to me. If you’re struggling, too, talk to someone.”
- If you live in England, you can now attend alpaca yoga classes. Rosebud Alpacas offers a class where you can do yoga in a field of alpacas on a farm in the Devon countryside. The farm owners have assured us that the alpacas are “raised ethically with freedom of choice, their welfare being paramount.”
If you’re feeling down and need some more good news to ease your depression, visit goodnewsnetwork.org, today.com/news/good-news, or just Google “good news” like I did. And remember, Salemites—the world doesn’t always suck!
thesalemite.org 