The Uplift Brief — Saturday, May 23, 2026

Uplifting Videos

30+ Minutes of the Most Heartwarming Foster and Adoption Stories We've Ever Seen youtube/thedodo

A Meerkat Mistook a Photographer for a Rock — and Used Him as a Lookout Post youtube

A Haunted House. A Scooby-Doo Tactic. And the Best Reaction You'll See All Week. youtube

Around the World

Four-Day Workweeks Proven, China Beats Its Own Emissions Goals, and More Good News This Week Positive News

Countries With the Most Gender Equality Now Have the Longest Lives — for Everyone Good Good Good

Britain's Largest Iron Age Treasure Goes on Display — With Evidence of the First 4-Horse Carriage Good News Network

Hundreds of Sea Turtle Hatchlings Were Rescued Before Their Nest Washed Away Good Good Good

Young Traders Are Breathing New Life Into Britain's Dying Market Stalls Positive News

Kids Making a Difference

Riding a Bike Before the Bell Rings Helps Every Kid Pay Attention — Especially Those With ADHD Reasons to Be Cheerful

Students Are Fundraising to Save the Habitat Where They Watch Bald Eagle Chicks on Livestream Good News Network

A Dad Taught His Daughter to Ride a Bike. The Way He Did It Is Being Shared Everywhere. r/HumansBeingBros

Medical Breakthroughs

Eating the Mediterranean Diet More Precisely Cuts Diabetes Risk by Nearly a Third Knowridge

Zen Monks Have Cleaned Their Way to Calm for Centuries. Science Just Caught Up. Science Alert

Every Time You Exercise, Your Brain Gets a Workout Too Knowridge

Spinach Is Now Being Turned Into Eye Drops — and the Results Are Promising Science Alert

People With Type 1 Diabetes Have Been Waiting Decades for This. Trials Just Changed Everything. Science Alert

Science

Scientists Made a 3D-Printing Resin You Can Melt Down and Use Again — Forever Knowridge

Scientists Found Endless Clean Hydrogen Hiding in Ancient Canadian Rock Science Alert

An Untouched Paris Apartment, Sealed Since 1942, Was Finally Opened in 2010 r/BeAmazed

An Italian Pilot Flew a Plane Through Two Road Tunnels Near Istanbul at 245 km/h r/BeAmazed

The Seeds of the Hollong Tree Look Exactly Like Drones — and Nobody Told Nature r/BeAmazed

Environmental Victories

A Phone Case Company Built a Robot That Hunts Plastic Across the Ocean Good News Network

Forever Chemicals in Seabird Eggs Have Dropped Sharply — and Regulators Deserve the Credit r/UpliftingNews

Las Vegas Figured Out How to Drink Its Own Wastewater. The Rest of the West Is Following. Reasons to Be Cheerful

Connecticut Just Moved to Ban Balloon Releases to Protect Wildlife r/UpliftingNews

Colorado's River Otters Are Back — 50 Years After Almost Disappearing for Good Reasons to Be Cheerful

Community Wins

Chicago Just Opened the Nation's First Museum Dedicated to Public Housing History Good Good Good

A Florida Town Rallied Around a Cow Named Charley and Pulled Him Back From the Brink Good Good Good

His 3-Year-Old Sends Him Stickers by Text When They're Apart. Every Single Time. r/MadeMeSmile

She Couldn't Find a Job in Her Field for Over a Year. So She Started a Bakery. r/MadeMeSmile

Animals & Pets

An Endangered Sea Turtle Was Accidentally Hooked Off North Carolina. Fishermen Saved Her. Good Good Good

A Yellowstone Wolf Got Separated From His Pack. The Moment They Found Each Other Again Said Everything InspireMore

AI Is Now Watching for Whales in San Francisco Bay — and It's Already Saving Them Good News Network

Dogs Trained to Sniff Out Koalas Are Saving Australia's Most Endangered Marsupials Good Good Good

The Idea That Your Pet Actively Chooses to Come Find You — Illustrated Perfectly r/MadeMeSmile

Heroes Among Us

She Was 7 Years Old With a 20-Pound Tumor. Her Teacher Refused to Let Her Fight Alone. Sunny Skyz

She Did Something Only 1% of People in the World Have Done. Yesterday She Joined the Club. r/MadeMeSmile

A 72-Year-Old Grandmother of Eight Just Earned Her Bachelor's Degree r/UpliftingNews

One Year After She Graduated Medical School With Twins in Her Arms, Her Husband Walked the Same Stage r/MadeMeSmile

Acts of Kindness

A Bride Got to Listen to Her Late Son's Heartbeat — in the Boy He Saved InspireMore

Farmer celebrates his harvest r/MadeMeSmile

A Passenger Spent 42 Days in Quarantine on a Cruise Ship. A Stranger's Kindness Got Him Through It. Good Good Good

A Jogger Spotted Something on the Beach. The Call She Made Saved a Critically Endangered Penguin. Good News Network

Working Together

A Group of Passionate Volunteers Is Slowly Bringing Giant Tortoises Back to India Good News Network

Volunteers Are Racing to Decode Cursive Writing Before the Last People Who Can Read It Are Gone Good Good Good

For 15 Years, This Program Has Been Matching Disabled Youth With College Athletes — 4,500 Kids Later Good News Network

Women Are Turning an Old Convent Into an All-Women Housing Community Good Good Good