It’s well known that the media never talk about trains arriving on time. So much so that following the news can be totally depressing. Without denying the great threats and difficulties facing our times, there is also very good news that sometimes reaches us and which is not relayed enough. To ignore them is to condemn ourselves to despair. Here are three recent pieces of information that make us smile again.
This study confirms the positive impact of universal income
Does universal income work? To see things more clearly, researchers from OpenResearcha laboratory founded by Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, followed 3,000 people from 2020 to 2023. The idea was to measure the effect of 150 programs deployed to beneficiaries.
According to the results obtained, people who benefited from this type of assistance obtained better quality jobs. Some also decided to receive training which was subsequently beneficial to them. The money was also used for basic needs. We are therefore far from the clichés surrounding people who take advantage of the windfall of money received to do nothing.
Boosted with AI, this trash can can help fight against food waste
AI-enabled bins help restaurants and caterers reduce food waste. A godsend when we know that the world wasted 1.05 billion pieces of food in 2022, or five times the emissions of the aviation sector.
Quoted by the Seattle TimesHamish Forbes, senior analyst at the NGO Waste and Resources Action Program, underlines: “Chefs don’t want to throw away their food, they want to have the feeling that what they cook ends up on the plate. AI is a great way to reduce the burden of this first step”.
Leaded gasoline is banned worldwide
In 1920, lead began to be added to gasoline. In fact, this metal makes it possible to improve the efficiency of vehicles and the performance of engines. Except that the latter is also a particularly toxic pollutant for children.
Its use therefore has major repercussions on pollution in cities. Good news however, after an awareness that began in Japan in 1986, all countries in the world have finally decided to ban leaded gasoline. Algeria is the latest to make this decision in 2021, marking a crucial step in air purification and for global health.
That’s it for this week. If you liked this article, you can always reread the previous part of this section to find other good news that has gone relatively unnoticed.
