Every day the Good Good Good team collects the best good news in the world and shares it with our community. Here are the highlights for this week!
If you want to get good news in your inbox every day, join the Goodnewsletter — the free daily newsletter designed to leave you feeling hopeful.
The Best Positive News We’re Celebrating This Week —
Cyclists around the world participated in memorial rides for Alex Pretti, who was also an avid cyclist
A Minneapolis cycling community, of which Alex Pretti was a part of, organized a memorial ride in his honor — and thousands of local cyclists joined. It was one of more than 200 memorial rides organized worldwide.
The ride began at a local park, where organizers handed out yellow safety vests that said “peaceful observer, don’t shoot” on the back to “send a message” and let people know “that what the rhetoric they’re hearing that ‘we’re domestic terrorists.’ We’re not. We have a very peaceful message to protect our own neighbors.”
The cyclists rode past the memorials of Pretti and Renee Good, and ended at the VA hospital where Pretti had worked as ICU nurse.
Why is this good news? People in Minneapolis and around the country continue to challenge the narrative that they are violent agitators, and large, nonviolent, public displays of care and solidarity like this — in response to an act of violence from federal officials — futher that message, and bring people together.
Experts say nonviolent anti-ICE protesters in MN have a shot at ‘outlasting their oppressors’
U.S. forests are storing more carbon than they have in decades
A new analysis shows that for the past two decades, U.S. forests have been absorbing carbon dioxide at a historic rate, increasing storage by about 66 million metric tons per year from 2005 to 2022.
Rather than being driven by a single cause, a mix of shifting climate conditions and human decisions about forest management helped contribute to the increase.
One of the most significant factors, though, was forest age: as forests got older, they entered peak growth stages and stored enormous amounts of carbon.
Why is this good news? Forests are critical climate partners because both trees and soil store carbon that would otherwise be in the atmosphere, acting as “passive” carbon sinks and absorbing more carbon than they release without intervention. This new data will help the U.S., and likely other countries around the world, make decisions about forest management and conservation.
As ICE continues its crackdown in Minnesota, legal education is a form of self-defense
→ Read more
Travel Channel star Andrew Zimmern is feeding his Minnesota neighbors amid the ICE occupation
Chef Andrew Zimmern, known for hosting “Bizarre Foods” for 22 seasons on the Travel Channel, understands the power of food as a way to bring people together — and in his home state of Minnesota, bringing people together has never been more vital.
And amid ICE’s occupation of Minnesota, he continues to be an advocate for local restaurants, taking his staff to dine at local restaurants, and volunteering, making and serving meals to people in need.
He’s also been outspoken in calling for an end to ICE’s operation in Minneapolis, and shared how pivotal the state has been in his sobriety journey since he moved there about 34 years ago.
→ Read more
University students in California have made 300,000 Wikipedia edits to preserve LGBTQ+ history
Amid ongoing efforts to erase LGBTQ+ history from the Trump administration, students at the University of California Berkeley are fighting to preserve it.
For the past decade, students in Professor María Rodríguez’s classes covering ethnic studies, gender and women’s studies, and performance studies have edited and created Wikipedia articles about LGBTQ+ history, with a focus on queer and trans people of color.
In partnership with Wiki Education, the students have contributed over 300,000 edits and 3,000 citations to Wikipedia, and garnered more than 96 million views.
Why is this good news? There have long been attempts to erase or dampen the contributions of LGBTQ+ people in history, and this effort addresses the disparities in what information is available about who, especially when it comes to white LGBTQ+ populations and LGBTQ+ people of color.
You may also like: How people are preserving LGBTQ+ history — despite the Trump administration’s efforts to erase it
These beagles were slated for euthanasia. Now they’re living their best life beside pigs, goats, and sheep on a farm in Wyoming
→ Read more
A Maryland man spends every day before work walking shelter dogs — even on holidays
Since 2018, Darren Genson has volunteered with Ann Arundel County Animal Services every single morning — “Unless I’m sick or … an obligation I can’t avoid” — before he goes to work as a full-time insurance agent.
Genson adopted his own dog, Charli, at the shelter, and wanted to continue volunteering to help the dogs who “don’t get a break.”
Genson grew more drawn to the “difficult” dogs who were skittish around humans, and the ones who were “high risk,” considered “not adoptable,” and were never able to go on walks with volunteers. He slowly got them to warm up — and now spends every day with them, walking about four to six dogs per shift.
→ Read more (Gifted link)
A new study found that solar panels last a lot longer than was once believed
Currently, solar panels come with a 25- to 30-year performance promise, and while a manufacturer’s warranty might have expired at that point, the panels may still be working extremely well.
A new analysis out of Switzerland looked at six solar arrays that have been running since between 1987 and 1993 and found that most of the panels were still producing more than 80% of their power — even after three decades.
The analysts looked at the “performance loss rate” of the panels, and found that the average annual loss was about a quarter of a percent — significantly lower than what’s been cited in previous studies.
What’s the nuance? The researchers found that temperature had a lot to do with how the performance of the panels fared over time, with those installed at lower altitudes facing higher temperatures, and they tended to degrade faster.
Even this knowledge is good news, though, as it helps us better, more strategically plan solar installations around the world.
Minnesota anti-ICE protest goes viral as thousands sing in the streets. They have a songbook you can follow, too
→ Read more
Homicides in England and Wales are at their lowest rate since record-keeping began
Contradicting claims that crime has risen, the total number of homicides in England and Wales fell to its lowest since record-keeping began, driven by a dramatic decline in killings with a knife or sharp object.
The latest data shows 499 homicides recorded by police from September 2024 to 2025, a drop of 7% over the same period the year prior and the lowest since 2003. Homicide involving a knife or sharp object, specifically, fell by 23% to 174 over that time period.
Notably, London also saw homicides drop to the lowest level in more than a decade, with 97 total recorded in 2025, down 11%.
A player on Italy’s Olympic women’s hockey team is also a climate scientist — and is using her platform to raise awareness about the impacts of climate change
Jacquie Pierri is a climate scientist with a master’s degree in sustainable engineering. She’s also competing in this year’s Olympic Games on Italy’s women’s hockey team — a sport whose arenas are no friend to the climate crisis.
The refrigeration systems needed to keep ice rinks both cold enough to not melt the ice and warm enough to be comfortable for spectators do a lot of environmental damage.
So, while she’s competing on the sport’s biggest stage, Pierri will also be raising awareness about the impacts of climate change alongside a coalition of her peers called EcoAthletes.
Why is this good news? Athletes have incredible influence and have long lent their voices and platforms to important causes — but as EcoAthletes shares, climate hasn’t really been one of them. Pierri and EcoAthletes have the opportunity to change that.
After all, there’s no hockey on a planet that can’t sustain it.
→ Read more
As ICE detains mothers in Minnesota, neighboring moms create a makeshift breastmilk bank for their babies
→ Read more
Nearly 30,000 Minnesotans have now been trained as constitutional observers
Two months ago, the federal government began “Operation Metro Surge” in Minneapolis. In that time, the Immigrant Defense Network has gathered more than 100 organizations to support vulnerable families and defend human rights.
In January alone, it trained an average of 2,000 volunteers a week to be constitutional observers — members of the community who observe and document federal law enforcement activity. In total, they’ve trained nearly 30,000 people in 77 of Minnesota’s 87 counties — an “unimaginable” scale.
Another 6,000 volunteers are registered to help deliver food, give at-risk families rides, go to court hearings, translate documents, and more. The volunteers are helping “around the clock, seven days a week,” responding to cases “every six minutes.”
More good news of the week —
In a breakthrough study, scientists from Spain eliminated pancreatic tumours in mice and prevented them from recurring. Pancreatic cancer is one of the most aggressive tumours with the worst prognosis, partly because of the rapid emergence of resistance to treatment.
A record 41 out LGBTQ+ athletes will participate in this year’s Winter Olympics. Eight of the out LGBTQ+ athletes are on Team USA, and there are a total of 22 out ice hockey players, all women, making it by far the sport with the most LGBTQ+ athletes.
Transgender Girl Scouts have sold over 71,000 boxes of cookies with the help of an independent journalist. Erin Reed was first motivated to create the list simply because she wanted to buy some cookies, and wanted to uplift trans kids by “trying to just make their days a little bit better, because god knows they've got enough to deal with.”
Churches in Springfield, Ohio are preparing to care for their immigrant neighbors losing legal status. Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, ends for Haitians on February 3 and there are as many as 15,000 immigrants in the Springfield area, many of them Haitian, and the city of about 60,000 is ramping up efforts to try to protect their community.
A California aquarium doubled the capacity of its sea turtle rehabilitation center. The Aquarium of the Pacific added a 4,000-gallon tank that will help it care for more injured sea turtles and give visitors a view of the process through a newly opened exhibit.
A high-tech “sound shirt” helps deaf and hard-of-hearing concertgoers feel the music on their bodies. A new innovation for the performing arts, the device is worn as a jacket and is equipped with 16 haptic actuators that transmit sound from the stage into pulses, vibrations, and other sensations.
For the first time in history, the number of middle-class Mexicans outnumbers the number in poverty. The Mexican government also said that, based on World Bank data, the Mexican middle class grew by more than 12 percentage points between 2018 and 2024.
Crocheters join knitting protest with red ‘Melt the ICE’ hats, raising thousands for Minnesota. Sales of the “Melt The ICE” crochet patterns have now raised $400,000 for local organizations supporting immigrants.
Amid ICE crackdowns, activists created a directory of over 470 Latino businesses to support on Super Bowl Sunday. The list includes bars and restaurants across 13 major U.S. cities, encouraging fans to exclusively support Latino establishments for the big game.
An Altadena bakery's anti-ICE cookies sold out in minutes, with proceeds benefiting Minnesotans. Altadena Cookie Company announced on Instagram that 100% of proceeds from the cookie designs would go to the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota’s Immigrant Rapid Response Fund, which provides support in Minneapolis.
Conservationists saved and rehabilitated two endangered seal pups found off the West Coast. Guadalupe fur seals are largely found living on Guadalupe Island, off the Pacific coast of Mexico, and the islands of the San Benito Archipelago, but they’ve been increasingly found stranded off the coast of California.
The Hague court ordered the Dutch government to protect residents on an island that’s sinking due to climate change. The Hague District Court also ruled that the government discriminated against Bonaire’s 20,000 inhabitants by not taking “timely and appropriate measures” to protect them from climate change before it’s too late.
Crocheters are making blue bunny hats inspired by the five-year-old detained by ICE. A crocheter created a free pattern for other stitchers to follow along, and they’re all wearing and sharing them under the hashtag #HatsForLiam on social media.
Lorde donated $204,000 from merchandise sales to a fund supporting immigrants in Minnesota. The New Zealand native announced that she’s contributing the money she made from merch sales from two Minneapolis shows she played about three months ago.
Germany unveiled the world’s first vertical solar plant built on water. Aligned to not just catch midday sun, but early morning and evening light — on both sides — the innovative installation saves space, reduces costs, and sends energy right where it’s needed — in this case, powering an entire gravel plant.
Male birth control is getting closer to reality, and men are lining up for clinical trials. It was long believed that men wouldn't reliably use birth control, but many are signing up for clinical trials of experimental male contraceptives.
“Melt the ICE” hats are so popular that yarn shops nationwide are selling out of red yarn. Inspired by a Norwegian design made in opposition to Nazi Germany in the 1940s, the $5 patterns have raised over $588,000 — and even yarn manufacturers are struggling to keep up with the demand for red yarn.
Kristen Stewart bought a historic Los Angeles movie theater to make it “something for the community.” Stewart said she intends to make the theater, which requires extensive renovation, into a space for the whole community, “It’s not just for pretentious Hollywood cinephiles.”
Researchers identified a new molecule that could drive patient survival in certain blood cancers. The molecule could be used as a biomarker to guide cancer treatment decisions, or even serve as targets for future therapies, opening the door to a whole new field of possible anti-cancer medications.
More than 170 countries, including the U.S., agreed to phase out major climate change-causing gases. (Gifted link) Countries and companies are phasing out hydrofluorocarbons, a group of gases used in refrigerators, air conditioners, and other cooling systems that heat the atmosphere more than almost any other pollutant on Earth.
Bruce Springsteen’s anti-ICE protest song “Streets of Minneapolis” was the most-sold song of the week. The song was the most-downloaded in the U.S. despite only being available for two days during the tracking week.
Levi’s is teaching high schoolers how to mend their clothes. Today, the average American throws away 81.5 pounds of clothing every year, resulting in 2,100 pounds of textile waste entering U.S. landfills every second.
