4-Year-Old Saves Teacher's Life

Good morning. It’s been a busy week so far. From a 4-year-old hero in Tennessee to a telescope revealing new corners of the cosmos, this week reminds us how everyday bravery and decades of innovation can shape a brighter world. Ireland celebrates its coal-free future, and a deadly tomb fungus may hold the key to saving lives.

These are the kinds of stories that remind us: we’re living in a time full of quiet miracles and bold leaps forward.

🎧 P.S. Don’t miss this week’s new episode of Good News To Go, your 5-minute boost of joy on the move.

—Stephanie S

EVERYDAY HEROES

4-Year-Old Saves Her Teacher’s Life at Daycare

When a preschool teacher collapsed from a seizure in a Tennessee daycare, the room fell silent, except for one child.

4-year-old Kyndal Bradley ran to get help, even though she’d never been taught what to do in an emergency. Paramedics say the teacher had stopped breathing twice before they arrived, and that Kyndal’s actions may have saved her life.

Her mother had no idea what happened until the daycare showed up at her door, calling Kyndal a hero.

SPACE

New Observatory Spots 2,100 Asteroids on Its First Night

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile just debuted its first night of celestial imaging and discovered over 2,000 new asteroids, including seven that orbit close to Earth.

With a 3.2-gigapixel camera and a mission to map the universe every few nights, the telescope is poised to revolutionize astronomy and help protect the planet by detecting threats before they’re visible anywhere else.

HEALTH & MEDICINE

Deadly Tomb Fungus Reveals Potent Cancer-Fighting Compound

A toxic fungus once blamed for mysterious deaths in ancient tombs has now revealed a surprising gift: molecules that kill leukemia cells with stunning accuracy.

Researchers isolated a new class of fungal compounds, asperigimycins, that rival FDA-approved chemotherapy drugs. It’s a significant step in uncovering fungi’s untapped potential for modern medicine.

ENVIRONMENT

Ireland Shuts Down Its Last Coal Plant for Good

Ireland has officially closed its final coal-fired power plant, joining 14 other European nations that have eliminated coal from their electricity mix.

With wind now supplying 37% of the country’s power, Ireland is quietly becoming a leader in renewable energy, demonstrating that a clean-energy future isn’t just possible, but is already happening.

THIS DAY IN HISTORY: June 25, 1956

Anthony Bourdain Was Born

On this day in 1956, renegade chef, writer, and travel host Anthony Bourdain was born in New York City. With his breakthrough memoir, Kitchen Confidential, and his globe-trotting TV series, No Reservations and Parts Unknown, Bourdain redefined the role of the food journalist, bringing a gritty, honest voice to the culinary world and spotlighting cultures often overlooked by mainstream media.

A former heroin addict turned executive chef, Bourdain became known for his sharp wit, cultural curiosity, and fearless storytelling. He earned comparisons to Hunter S. Thompson and used his platform to challenge political narratives, from filming in Palestine to questioning U.S. views on China. He also held a blue belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and won gold at an international tournament in 2016.

Though his life ended tragically in 2018, Bourdain’s legacy lives on in kitchens, bookshelves, and border-crossing conversations around the world.

Other notable June 2 events:

1947: The Diary of Anne Frank was published in the Netherlands, offering a poignant firsthand account of life in hiding during the Nazi occupation. The book has since been translated into over 70 languages and read by millions.

1991: Croatia and Slovenia declared independence from Yugoslavia, sparking a series of events that reshaped the political landscape of Eastern Europe.

1993: Kim Campbell became Canada’s first, and so far only, female Prime Minister.

2015: The U.S. Supreme Court upheld nationwide health care subsidies under the Affordable Care Act, affirming access to coverage for millions of Americans.

GOOD NEWS AROUND THE WORLD

What made us 😄 this week

🏛️ Germany: After a century of legal battles, 3,000 royal artifacts from the former Kaiser’s family are now part of public museum collections through a historic new foundation.

🌉 Japan: Tokyo will remove a 1960s expressway shadowing its oldest bridge, restoring views of Mount Fuji and bringing new life to a centuries-old cultural hub.

🦈 Australia: Delta is testing shark-skin–inspired aircraft coatings that could reduce drag and cut fuel use by 4%, a nature-powered boost for greener skies.

📜 United Kingdom: Long-lost papers by codebreaking legend Alan Turing were discovered in a loft and saved from destruction, fetching $ 625,000 at auction and preserving a legacy that has shaped modern computing.

🏺 France: Roadwork led to the discovery of a sprawling 43,000-square-foot Roman villa with private baths, gardens, mosaics, and underfloor heating, one of the best-preserved rural finds in the region.

WORDS TO INSPIRE

I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers.

— Claude Monet

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

Good news is such a vibe

In a world full of challenges, it’s easy to miss how far we’ve come. But every day offers proof that progress, hope, and human connection are thriving. Here are five reasons to feel grateful to be alive right now.

🚀 Global Classroom Access: You can learn almost anything online for free today. Platforms like YouTube host more educational videos than even the largest libraries have books, making world-class knowledge accessible to all. In fact, 86% of U.S. viewers say they use YouTube to learn new things, a far cry from a century ago when education was a privilege of the few.

🌍 Crowdfunding Care: You can fund a stranger’s surgery or crisis relief across the world in seconds. Crowdfunding platforms process a donation every second and raise over $50 million each week for personal causes. What used to require charity galas and weeks of coordination now happens instantly through a smartphone, turning global empathy into action.

🩺 Earlier Cancer Detection: Medicine is catching killers sooner. Advanced screening and treatment have driven cancer death rates down by about 34% since 1991, saving millions of lives. What once was often a death sentence is increasingly a survivable condition; many cancers can now be detected at early stages or managed long-term, a dramatic improvement from decades past.

🦾 Robots Restoring Mobility: Robotic exoskeletons and assistive robots are helping people walk, work, and live independently. In recent years, wearable “Iron Man” suits have enabled paraplegic patients to stand and climb stairs again. Robots also assist the elderly with daily tasks and provide companionship. What were props in 1990s movies are now real devices giving people mobility and dignity back, true bionic empowerment.

🎥 Global Streaming for Indies: Independent films and shows now reach worldwide audiences via streaming. Netflix, for example, expanded to 190+ countries in a few years, meaning a low-budget documentary or niche foreign film can be watched in nearly every corner of the globe. In 1980, an indie movie might never leave its city. Today, a creator in one country can instantly find fans on the other side of the planet, a huge win for cultural diversity in entertainment.

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