Amazing art, the power of gratitude, and how singing boosts health

A toddler has become a sensation in the art world. There might just be a clever new way to recycle synthetic fabrics. Singing is really good for your health, even if you’re terrible at it. Simply being grateful can help you live longer. Europe is charging ahead with renewable energy, and the world’s most popular YouTuber is paying for new houses to be built... then giving them away. Thank you to Good News Post, the Good News Network and Positive News for these beautiful stories.

Toddler Laurent’s paintings are selling like hot cakes

Two-year-old Laurent is well on the way to becoming a world-famous artist, having sold paintings of a horse, cat and dog for 1000s of Euros to galleries and art fairs in Europe and beyond. Apparently his paintings are works of genius. When his family took a trip to Italy in 2023, Laurent became instantly obsessed with the hotel’s painting room. His parents made him a studio when they got back home and he’s been painting ever since. The works are abstract with a touch of realism, admired by experts across the world, and some have sold for as much as €6,500. It must be so exciting for Laurent’s parents to know their little boy has found such an awe inspiring passion at such an early age.

Now we know how to separate natural and synthetic fibres

A team at the university of Delaware in the USA has found out how to recycle mixed fabrics by separating artificial materials like nylon from the natural stuff like cotton. If it turns out to be scalable it’ll be a breakthrough in clothes recycling. It matters because 10% of all landfill waste in the world is made up of fabrics from the fashion and textile industry. Materials like polyester, Lycra and nylon give off tiny microplastic particles, which end up in the environment. When combined with natural fibres they can’t be recycled. The idea is to make a closed-loop system for recycling fabrics. The new method uses a solvent to break the chemical bonds in polyester and nylon, separating artificial fibres from natural. Then both materials can be recycled. Better still, the solvent is activated using cheap, simple microwave energy.

Singing makes us feel BRILLIANT!

You might sing on your own at home, or sing in a choir or group. Either way it’s brilliant for your emotional and physical health, even if you can’t sing in tune and it sounds pretty awful! Singing makes the body create happy hormones like endorphins, dopamine, oxytocin and more, all responsible for feelings of joy and pleasure. Because we’re focused on the singing we are held in the moment, in the present, in the ‘now’, in the same way as when you’re meditating, mindful, or ‘in the zone’ doing something you love. Using all those vocal muscles while processing sound, regulating your breathing and managing the resulting emotions gives your brain a great work-out and might even build new neural connections. So, next time you’re feeling blue, blast out a tune and you’ll feel better. Do it with a friend or loved one and it’ll feel even better.

The science says gratitude rocks

We already know how powerful gratitude is for boosting our mood. Gratitude improves our cholesterol levels and immune responses, reduces inflammation, cuts lung disease, heart disease and depression, and helps people exercise better. It even promotes great sleep. Now we also know it has an effect on our physical mortality as well. It looks like grateful people are less likely to die young than those who aren’t so grateful for the things life has delivered. Overall, higher gratitude scores were connected with 29% less risk of an early death.

Europe’s electricity grid decarbonises at a record rate

Europe’s electricity grid is going green at record-breaking speed. New data says an impressive 74% of electricity generated in the EU from January 2024 came from renewable and low-carbon sources compared to 68% in 2023. It looks like the electricity industry’s decarbonisation efforts are ‘years ahead’ of any other sector, thanks to a dramatic influx of renewables on the grid and stable nuclear power generation.

MrBeast builds 100 houses then gives them away

The world’s most popular YouTuber, MrBeast, has an eye-watering 300 million subscribers. But he does a lot more than making extraordinary viral content. He literally spends millions helping other people. The name of the game is Beast Philanthropy. Recently, in Central and South America, he’s been helping homeless people who have lost their houses through natural disasters like landslides, paying for new modern homes to be built, which he then gives away. He’s built a football pitch for children to play on, complete with kit, balls and shoes. He’s given away new furnished homes in Mexico, Jamaica, Argentina and more.

So is your heart warmed? Are you feeling the glow? We wish you a gorgeous July, a wonderful summer, a hippy-happy time with people you love. Come back next time for another dose of feel-good factor loveliness!