There’s still a lot of good in the world — and a lot of reasons to be hopeful. (Even when it doesn’t always feel that way.) Here is some good news for you.
Earth’s ozone layer is healing.
Because of pollution, the Earth’s ozone layer has seriously suffered. And of course, that’s no good for anybody, since the fragile gas layer protects our planet and shields us from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays. That’s why it’s such a relief that climate change experts believe that the ozone layer will fully heal within 50 years, according to a 2018 report from the United Nations.
The man who invented the polio vaccine could have made billions by patenting it, but purposefully didn’t.
When Jonas Salk created the polio vaccine, he could have patented it and made an estimated $7 billion, according to Forbes. Instead, he chose not to do that. On April 12, 1955, when CBS’s Edward R. Morrow asked the scientist who owned the rights to the vaccine, Salk replied, “Well, the people, I would say. There is no patent. Could you patent the sun?”
A village in India plants trees every time a baby girl is born.
When the leader of Piplantri, a small village in Rajasthan, India, lost his 16-year-old daughter in 2006, he decided to turn his grief into something beautiful. In order to ensure that the village treasured each baby girl , he set up an initiative that sees trees planted every time a girl is born in the village, according to The Guardian. As of 2018, 350,000 trees had been planted.
More millennials give to charity than any other generation.
Turns out, more millennials donate to charity than any other generation, according to 2018 research by fundraising firm Blackbaud. The researchers found that while 84 percent of millennials donate to charitable organizations, just 72 percent of baby boomers and 59 percent of Generation X do the same. It just goes to show that we’re moving toward a kinder, more charitable world.
And people who volunteer live longer.
Volunteering your time or money won’t only help others, it could also help you. One 2011 study from the University of Michigan found that people who volunteer for selfless reasons live longer than those who don’t volunteer at all. Those who volunteer for more self-centered reasons, such as looking good in their community, don’t experience the same benefits.
Eating certain types of chocolate is good for both your physical and mental health.
There’s nothing wrong with eating chocolate simply to enjoy its delicious taste. But if you need an excuse to indulge, you’ll be thrilled to find out that chocolate can be good for both your mind and body.
According to a 2019 review of research by University Health News, “eating moderate amounts of dark chocolate benefits health in many ways. In fact, chocolate is now considered an anti-aging, anti-inflammatory ‘superfood’ for the brain and body.”
Article by Best Life
