uplifting news

Read recent happy news and other uplifting news stories from around the world on Newser.com

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If You Want a Simple Pine Box, This Coffin Maker Isn't for You

Ross Hall of New Zealand has an array of whimsical designs catered to individuals

(Newser) - When the pallbearers brought Phil McLean's coffin into the chapel, there were gasps before a wave of laughter rippled through the hundreds of mourners, per the AP . The coffin was a giant cream donut. “It overshadowed the sadness and the hard times in the last few weeks,”...

12-Year-Old Plans to Make NASA History
12-Year-Old Plans to
Make NASA History
in case you missed it
Apr 17, 2021 7:00 AM CDT

12-Year-Old Plans to Make NASA History

Alena Wicker's goal is to be the youngest Black girl to ever work for the space agency

(Newser) - When Alena Wicker realized the racial and gender gaps in employment in the STEM fields, she went to work. The Texas 12-year-old told her mother, "I want to create this culture of Brown girls in STEM, because it's this whole gap, and I just want to do something,...

15-Month Mission Saves Giraffes on Sinking Island

9 endangered Rothschild giraffes transported on custom-made barge to mainland Kenya

(Newser) - For more than a year, multiple groups have worked together to rescue nine endangered giraffes from a sinking island in a Kenyan lake. On Monday, the final two animals made the milelong journey from their flooded habitat to their new home on the mainland, thanks to the rescuers' patience and...

Clock Stopped by Earthquake a Decade Ago Restarts

After another earthquake in Japan

(Newser) - A clock that stopped working after the catastrophic 2011 earthquake in Japan has resumed ticking a decade later—after another strong earthquake. The BBC reports that the century-old, spring-driven clock in a Buddhist temple stopped keeping time when the temple was damaged by the quake and ensuing tsunami. The temple'...

Frat Brothers Give Their Old Cook a Generous Surprise

LSU's Phi Gamma Delta brothers donate to pay off Jessie Hamilton's mortgage

(Newser) - Jessie Hamilton says she's worked at least two jobs, and sometimes four, ever since she was 14. She's now 74 and finally ready to retire, thanks to a generous act from some of the people she's served throughout her career. Fourteen of those years, from 1982 to...

She Just Did What No Pitcher Has Done

Hope Trautwein makes Division I history with 21-strikeout perfect game

(Newser) - Pitching a no-hitter is hard. Pitching a perfect game is harder. Pitching a perfect game by striking out every player? Well, it's unprecedented at college's top level—at least until now. North Texas softball pitcher Hope Trautwein achieved the feat last weekend against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, reports the Dallas ...

She Desperately Needed a New Windpipe. Now, a Big First
Doctors: We Pulled Off the
'Holy Grail' of Surgeries
in case you missed it
Apr 10, 2021 4:10 PM CDT

Doctors: We Pulled Off the 'Holy Grail' of Surgeries

NYC medical team says it has performed first complete surgical transplant of a trachea

(Newser) - In 2014, Sonia Sein was hospitalized after a bad asthma attack. The resulting intubation damaged her windpipe, and multiple surgeries didn't help, so doctors finally cut a hole in her throat and inserted a tracheostomy tube. In the six years after, Sein still labored to breathe, forcing her to...

Transplant From Husband, Son Saves Life of COVID Patient

Infection destroyed Japanese woman's lung function

(Newser) - Surgeons in Japan say they have carried out a first-of-its-kind operation that will give hope to coronavirus patients with severe lung damage. In the world's first transplant of lung tissue from living donors to a COVID patient, a woman who had spent months on a life support machine received...

He Saw a Boy Crash His ATV on TikTok. He Was 800 Miles Away

NH teen Caden Cotnoir helped 12-year-old Trent Jarrett's parents find the trapped boy in W. Va.

(Newser) - Many parents may wish their kids didn't spend so much time on social media, but one West Virginia family is grateful for the TikTok penchant of a teen 800 miles away. On Sunday, 13-year-old Caden Cotnoir of Gilmanton, NH, was watching a livestream of Trent Jarrett, a 12-year-old Caden...

San Francisco's Board of Ed Nixes Controversial Plan

44 schools won't be renamed, at least not until the city's kids get back to full-time in-person learning

(Newser) - A plan to rename dozens of schools in San Francisco has fallen by the wayside. After a debate that stretched for years, the city's Board of Education voted in January to yank the names of famous figures who had ties to racism, oppression, or slavery off of 44 schools—...

Man's 2.8K-Mile, 14-Month Run Is a Big First

Don Muchow, an Ironman with diabetes, ran from California's Disneyland to Florida's Disney World

(Newser) - It was an endurance run that was supposed to take just under 100 days. It ended up taking 14 months, thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, but Don Muchow's ultramarathon from California to Florida is still a big first. Per WESH , the 59-year-old Texas man is said to be the...

Actress Reclaims Name: 'I'm Taking Back What's Mine'

'Thandie' Newton will be 'Thandiwe' Newton going forward

(Newser) - You may know her as Thandie Newton. But from now on, the 48-year-old British actress will be known as Thandiwe Newton—a nod to her Zimbabwean roots, reports the Guardian . "That’s my name. It’s always been my name. I’m taking back what’s mine,” the...

Teen's Idea May Reduce Infections in Sutures

Dasia Taylor, take a bow

(Newser) - A 17-year-old high school student and finalist in a national science competition has come up with an impressive invention she hopes can save lives, particularly in developing countries. Dasia Taylor of Iowa City, Iowa, had read about "smart" sutures coated with a conductive material that can relay changes in...

Rookie Likes His First Pitch
Rookie Likes
His First Pitch
Apr 4, 2021 3:43 PM CDT

Rookie Likes His First Pitch

Axil Baddoo homers in debut, touching off a parental celebration

(Newser) - "Let your family know you're getting your first start on Sunday," Detroit Tigers manager AJ Hinch told Axil Baddoo, the Free Press reports. That was a good call. Baddoo did play Sunday, smashing the first major league pitch he'd ever seen for a home run. It...

After Crash, Pilot Survives 36-Day Trek in the Jungle
Key to His Jungle Survival:
He Stole Trick From Monkeys
in case you missed it
Apr 3, 2021 7:00 AM CDT

Key to His Jungle Survival: He Stole Trick From Monkeys

Pilot Antonio Sena survives 36-day trek after crash, sustained by a small fruit

(Newser) - In the end, his family couldn't believe he was alive, and in fairness, Antonio Sena probably shouldn't have been. The 36-year-old Brazilian pilot had to crash-land his small plane deep in the Amazon jungle after its single engine conked out, reports arynews.tv . He survived the landing, however,...

Heart Surgery Goes On as Hospital Burns

Russian doctors, nurses finish bypass before evacuating

(Newser) - When a blaze broke out Friday on the wooden roof of an ancient hospital in a remote Russian city, firefighters went to work on it. Officials said 128 people were evacuated, including 60 patients. But on the ground floor, a team of eight doctors and nurses carried on with heart...

Newspaper's Point Is Made in Blank Front Page

Small 'Northeast News' of Kansas City gets some financial help

(Newser) - Stories are back on the cover of Kansas City’s Northeast News this week after the newspaper printed a blank front page to show community members what they'd miss if the newspaper folded, per the AP . In the past week, the 89-year-old newspaper has received more than $3,000...

For Rare Form of Cancer, Drug May Be a 'Game Changer'

Nivolumab appears to help surgical patients avoid a quick recurrence of esophageal cancer

(Newser) - Esophageal cancer may be rare, but it's a particularly brutal form of the disease. It's common for patients to undergo chemo, radiation, and surgery, only to have the cancer return quickly, notes the New York Times . A new study in the New England Journal of Medicine, however, is...

Girl Sells 32K Boxes of Girl Scout Cookies: 'Nothing Is Impossible'

Cancer survivor Lilly Bumpus, 8, also collected 5.2K donated boxes; some will go to other survivors

(Newser) - The 2020 season for Girl Scout Cookie sales was cut short , but the 2021 season was, in a word, "insane." That's according to Trish Bauer, whose 8-year-old daughter just smashed the national record for most boxes sold in a single season, per the San Jose Mercury News...

He Rescued a Toddler in 1998, Gets Huge Hug 23 Years Later

Firefighter William Porter meets Jacob Tsukroff, now 26, whom he saved from a house fire

(Newser) - A retired firefighter who rescued a toddler from a house fire 23 years ago had an emotional reunion over the weekend with Jacob Tsukroff, now 26, in upstate New York. Per NBC New York , William Porter was among the responders who showed up at the burning house in Poughkeepsie on...

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