20 good things that happened in 2017

HIAWATHA, KS – AUGUST 21: The sun is seen in full eclipse over a park on August 21, 2017 in Hiawatha, Kansas. Millions of people have flocked to areas of the U.S. that are in the ‘path of totality’ in order to experience a total solar eclipse. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

At the end of the year, many recall the disasters of the past months. However, it wasn’t all bad. Here are 20 good things that happened in 2017.

This year has been, for many, a pretty bumpy ride. Whether you’ve experienced personal challenges or have quailed in the face of every national and international conflict (or both, you poor thing), everyone’s had to deal with it.

For one, this was the first full year of Donald Trump in the White House. That meant that the ACA was assailed, corporate-friendly tax reform passed, and the United States has had to deal with a decided shift in politics and culture.

Internationally, things got rough, too. There’s the developing drama in the Korean peninsula, thanks to North Korea’s burgeoning nuclear program. The U.K. is undergoing its own upset, with Prime Minister Theresa May’s crumbling support and the still-ongoing Brexit process.

Meanwhile, a humanitarian crisis seemed to rear its head every couple of months. These include the plight of the Rohingya people in Myanmar and our own home-grown devastation on the hurricane-ravaged island of Puerto Rico.

The positive side of 2017

But, hey, it’s not all bad! For one, humans are hardwired to remember negative things more than positive ones. You’ve probably noticed it in your own experience. Some of your most immediate and colorful memories may center on things that went terribly, while the comforting memories are decidedly hazy.

That focus on the bad events worked decently well as a survival technique in our species’ early history, to be sure. Alas, in today’s modern societies, that’s also a recipe for steadily mounting anxiety.

So, let’s take a few moments to remember some of the good things that happened this year. Between the natural and political disasters, there were also some truly bright spots. They ranged from silly movies to advances in medical science, to awe-inspiring astronomical events.

If you need a pickup after this year, read on for 20 of the best things to come out of 2017. Take heart, and draw on your own strength and goodwill as we head into the new year.

20. A Christmas Prince

We might as well start in a goofy, lighthearted sort of place. A Christmas Prince took some wings of the Internet by storm at the end of this year. That’s thanks in part to a tweet from Netflix checking in on some of the movie’s most dedicated viewers.

This movie is so fantastically ridiculous that it will provide hours of mind-bending fodder for even the laziest movie viewer. It follows Amber Moore, a young aspiring journalist who snags a sweet assignment to report on the royal family of Aldovia. See, crown prince Richard must decide whether or not to take the throne of this nation, which happens to look like the front cover of a holiday cookie box.

Aldovia is replete with snowy mountainscapes, people riding majestically on horseback, and cabins so aggressively cozy that you will feel like you’re being smothered in a thousand woolen blankets.

Logical inconsistencies

When Richard cancels his press conference, Amber recklessly enters the royal palace to aimlessly wander around and take pictures of armor.

Luckily, she’s caught by the least cautious security guard in the history of the world. He assumes that she’s the new American tutor for the young Princess Emily. Amber is immediately led into the heart of the palace and given unsupervised access to a young girl.

Seriously, no one thinks to check her ID until more than an hour through the movie. Meanwhile, she’s free to bond with the mildly interesting young princess and her older brother, Richard. Oh, and Richard? Bless him, he’s plenty nice. Alas, Richard is also what would happen if the color beige wished it could become a human being. His character is so uninteresting that he’s become an unthreatening fill-in-the-blank man.

Of course, everything turns out fine in the end. And it’s practically a requirement that Amber descends down some stairs to attend a ball, wearing a genuinely pretty dress, long gloves, and an unfortunate amount of eyeshadow. All that and a mildly self-indulgent glass of wine (or whatever beverage tickles your fancy) makes for a fun and exceedingly snarky evening.

19. Fusion reactors got a lot closer to being a reality

People have been talking about fusion reactors for so long without real-world human-made results that it sometimes feels like it can only exist in the realm of science fiction. That concept got one big step closer to reality this year.

Of course, fusion reactions exist in nature. The sun is one gigantic fusion reactor, in fact. It’s constantly cramming hydrogen atoms together into helium. The energy produced by these fusions eventually makes it out of the sun in the form of heat and light.

Humans are pretty good at fission reactions, wherein we split atoms and harness the resulting energy from those broken atomic bombs. Take the unfortunate example of atomic bombs, where the right kinds of fission reactions can create staggeringly destructive explosions. In a more positive light, nuclear fission can be used to produce relatively efficient energy for many people.

While the nuclear fission process is relatively “clean” compared to power sources like coal-fired plants and the oil and gas industry, it’s far from perfect. Nuclear plants produce fuel rods that, though depleted and no longer fit for use, are still highly radioactive. And it’s not as if you can simply toss those fuel rods into the local landfill. Disposal of nuclear waste requires significant investment and some far-future thinking.

The promise of nuclear fusion

But what if we could come up with an energy source that had the longevity and efficiency of a nuclear reactor, but with far, far less dangerous waste produced? That’s the vision of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) nuclear fusion project.

ITER is an international effort with a major facility in southern France. Though this experimental site experienced some difficulties, organizers now say they are back on track. That’s thanks in part to some truly impressive feats of engineering; producing reliable nuclear fusion reactions is a complicated and intensive matter.

This announcement means that ITER’s experimental facility could be producing clean energy as early as 2025. Soon enough, they may be joined by other researchers, including some working with Google.

18. Women swept the Hugo Awards

In August, the annual Hugo Awards for achievements in science fiction and fantasy works were presented at the 75th World Science Fiction Convention in Helsinki, Finland. Though the Hugos have been an annual occurrence since 1953, this year was especially notable. In 2017, women writers took home nearly all of the major Hugo Awards.

This is fairly astounding when you consider the early male domination of both genres. In the early days of modern science fiction, female characters were regularly objectified and given no agency. Female authors were rare, indeed. It was rarer still for them to gain recognition for their work.

This is particularly odd, given how instrumental women writers were to the history of the genre. Some even argue that Mary Shelley invented modern science fiction with her 1818 novel, Frankenstein.

Women gain more recognition in sci-fi

As time has passed, however, women have gained more and more recognition for their work. Anne McCaffrey, famed for her Dragonriders of Pern fantasy series, was the first woman to win a Hugo Award for fiction. Other writers, like Ursula K. Le Guin, N.K. Jemisin and Ann Leckie have come to write some of the greatest and most arresting works of sci-fi in the entire genre.

So, it was deeply satisfying to see women gaining major acclaim at the 2017 Hugos. N.K. Jemisin won for best novel for the second year in a row, with The Obelisk Gate (sequel to the previous year’s winner, The Fifth Season). By the way, Jemisin is also the first black author to win a Hugo for a novel.

Other winners included Seanan McGuire (best novella, Every Heart a Doorway), Ursula Vernon (best novelette, The Tomato Thief) and Amal El-Mohtar (best short story, “Seasons of Glass and Iron”). Ursula K. Le Guin also collected yet another award for related work, for her nonfiction book, Words Are My Matter: Writings about Life and Books, 2000-2016.

17. Some elections turned out just fine

The results of the 2016 U.S. election and further elections in 2017 showcased the growing presence of far-right extremists, xenophobia and everything else dark about human nature. That said, it wasn’t totally bad. For all that we saw the rise of the harsh and selfish in international politics, it was not a given outcome.

Take the French presidential election, which concluded in May. Centrist Emmanuel Macron became president of France after a tense election pitted him against the far-right opponent, Marine Le Pen. Indeed, he won by a decisive margin, though Le Pen’s populist National Front party had gained a worrying amount of attention for their anti-immigrant and inwardly focused stances.

Later in the year, Doug Jones surprised nearly everyone by winning a Senate election against Roy Moore, the Republican candidate. Moore had been accused of sexual assault against underage girls while he worked as an assistant district attorney in Alabama during the 1970s.

However, with the support of the president behind Moore and the traditionally deep-red politics of Alabama, few expected that Jones, a Democrat, would win. Jones, a former federal prosecutor, had sought punishment for two Klansmen who had murdered four young girls in the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama during the 1960s.

Thanks in large part to black voters, the Alabama electorate made a surprising turn and selected Jones for office. In his election speech, Jones said, “Alabama has been at a crossroads. We have been at crossroads in the past. And unfortunately, we have usually taken the wrong fork. Tonight, ladies and gentlemen, you took the right road”.

16. Jonathan Smith saved around 30 people in Las Vegas

Earlier this year, 58 people died and 546 more were injured after a gunman opened fire with a series of high-powered weapons at the Route 91 Harvest festival in Las Vegas.

By sheer victim count, this is one of the largest mass shootings in American history. However, the pain of survivors and family cannot fully be appreciated or quantified.

That said, there are some flashes of good to be found in such an awful news story. Take Jonathan Smith, a 30-year-old copy machine repairman who was at the festival. When it became clear that someone was shooting into the crowd, Smith sprang into action. Nine of his family members were there, celebrating a brother’s birthday. He instructed them to hold hands and run away from the shots.

Smith’s heroism

That wasn’t all, however. As Smith was fleeing with his family, they became separated. Smith turned back to look for his young nieces and then saw other people in danger. Some were reportedly so frightened that they had practically frozen, unable to move towards safety.

Smith began to grab people, urging them to run towards a handicapped parking area and shelter behind cars. When he saw that some people were not fully covered, he stood up to warn them and was shot.

Fortunately, Smith survived. He was struck in the shoulder, suffering broken bones and a bruised lung. All of his family survived, as well. A photo of a bandaged Smith in a local emergency room quickly went viral.

Though many hailed Smith as a hero, he demurred. “I don’t see myself that way,” he said. “I would want someone to do the same for me”.

15. The Guinea Worm parasitic disease and polio are on their way out

At this point in history, humans have done away with only one disease 00 smallpox. This viral infection was once a major scourge in communities throughout the world. It was highly contagious and oftentimes deadly. Even those that survived the painful rash that spread all over their body were often left with disfiguring smallpox scars.

The first successful vaccine ever was developed to combat smallpox. Edward Jenner, an English doctor, observed that people infected with cowpox, a similar disease, did not catch smallpox. He took the observation further and began inoculating people with cowpox.

Earlier forms of smallpox inoculations were not always successful and even sometimes infected others. Jenner’s work was the first to truly succeed. Further developments in the vaccine and massive movement to inoculate people in the 20th century led to the effective eradication of the disease by 1980.

Now, scientists and medical professionals worldwide are working to eradicate two more diseases: guinea worm and polio. Though the efforts have experienced some significant roadblocks, instances of both disease have been dramatically reduced.

Guinea-worm disease and polio

People become infected with guinea worm when they drink water contaminated with infected water fleas. These people then may experience painful lesions as a female worm emerges through their skin. Guinea-worm disease can sometimes make it too painful to work or move.

Though dogs have become transmission points and have made the fight to eradicate the disease more difficult, historically low numbers of people have become infected thanks to better treatment and preventative measures (warning: link includes photos of the lesions and parasites).

Polio, meanwhile, is also taking a big hit from vaccination programs. In a small number of people infected with the poliomyelitis virus, muscle weakness may develop. This can lead to paralysis of certain muscles, including those in the limbs and diaphragm. Two vaccines have been the cause of a precipitous drop in new cases per year — an injected form and one administered orally.

However, proper vaccination requires multiple doses. Strong vaccination programs and dedicated, trained volunteers (who often have to face skepticism and violent resistance) have made a major difference. Last year, only 17 cases of polio were reported worldwide.

14. A Texas mosque was rebuilt

With rampant evidence of xenophobia and anti-Islamic sentiment throughout America, it can be easy to think that communities throughout the United States have become viciously opposed to their Muslim members. While Muslim people still experience serious discrimination and even violence, however, that’s not always the case. Sometimes, people of all faiths and beliefs can come together to help their neighbors.

Such a case happened in Victoria, Texas, a relatively large city in the southern end of the state. At the beginning of the year, the Victoria Islamic Center was hit by a large fire. This turned out to be not faulty electric wiring or a kitchen accident, though.

Instead, it was the fault of a suspected arsonist, who has since been charged with a hate crime. The building was ruined, though thankfully no one was injured in the blaze.

The story doesn’t end there, however. Four months later, construction workers were breaking ground on a new mosque on the first day of Ramadan. That’s good enough on its own, but the new building hasn’t come out of just anywhere. Instead, it’s being built thanks to the donations of people throughout the country, and to support from other members of the Victoria, Texas community.

Funders from around the world donated over $1 million to rebuild the center, which will include some pieces of the previous building. “It’s extremely humbling and not only in that it restores our faith in humanity,” said center member Omar Rachid, “it restores our faith in really what the true American spirit is.”

13. Peggy Whitson broke spaceflight records

Though we’re not currently in the rocket race days of the Cold War, the United States and other countries with space programs are still making progress and breaking significant records. Most of this record-breaking will take place on the International Space Station (ISS), a large station in low-Earth orbit. The ISS is expected to be in use until 2028.

U.S. astronaut Peggy Whitson broke multiple records this year during her time on the ISS. She became the station’s first female commander in its nearly 20 years of operation. During this tour, Whitson also became the oldest woman in space, at age 56.

She also broke the U.S. record for time spent in space (a total of 665 days) and for the longest single spaceflight by a woman. Whitson surpassed the previous record, held by Samantha Cristoforetti, an Italian astronaut who spent 199 days and 16 hours in space. Whitson’s record now stands at 290 days straight, all while circling our planet at more than 17,000 miles per hour.

Whitson didn’t get to where she is by luck or accident, however. She earned a doctorate in biochemistry from Rice University in 1985, for one. After a post-doctoral fellowship at Rice, Whitson then began working at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. She then worked for NASA in various capacities as a research biochemist. She took on duties as an assistant professor, focusing on biochemistry and genetics.

In 1996, Whitson was selected as an astronaut candidate. During her training, she also served as commander of the NEEMO 5 mission aboard the Aquarius underwater lab. Whitson and her crew lived underwater for 14 days, echoing her later stint aboard the ISS.

12. Two politicians went on a road trip

Though it sounds like the beginning of a lame political joke, this political “bromance” really did happen. Not only that, but it led to an unfortunately rare example of bipartisanship and a showing of basic humanity that seems to be currently lacking in Congress.

It all started with a blizzard. Two Texas representatives were stranded in their home state after a snowstorm canceled their flights. With an important vote looming, neither could stand to miss out. That’s when they decided to rent a car together and make the cross-country drive to Washington, D.C.

Making matters more interesting was their different political views. Rep. Beto O’Rourke is a Democrat, while his co-driver, Rep. Will Hurd, is a Republican. Over the 1,600 miles from San Antonio to D.C., they broadcast their trip and discussions via Facebook Live. Viewers could chime in and ask questions along the way.

Though the two weren’t especially close at the beginning of their trip, it became clear that a friendship was blooming towards the end. Even better, the two were able to discuss their differences civilly (a pretty smart move when you’re stuck in a moving vehicle together) and find that they could work together on other points. They were later able to talk to people in a Memphis Gibson’s Donuts (after a previous donut-related discussion).

“I learned something — this is a guy I can work with,” O’Rourke told local station Fox 5 DC. The pair made it to the Capitol with 30 minutes to spare before the vote.

11. Jackie Robinson is getting his own museum

Baseball great Jackie Robinson has long been an admirable figure. He broke barriers for African-Americans in baseball and was a monumental figure in other regards for the civil rights movement. Robinson was the first African-American man to play in Major League Baseball. He started at first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947.

Not only that, but Robinson was a seriously good baseball player. He was named Rookie of the Year in 1947 and was an All-Star player each season from 1949 to 1954. Robinson also played in six World Series and was instrumental in the 1955 World Series win for the Dodgers against the New York Yankees.

Now, a museum focused on his work is being built in lower Manhattan, near the Holland Tunnel. Workers broke ground in April of this year, setting off a long-held dream for members of Robinson’s family and the Jackie Robinson Foundation.

In fact, there have been efforts to build the Jackie Robinson Museum for years. It has made it into the real world thanks to money raised by the Foundation and its supporters. Those collective donations reportedly come out to a total of $25 million, though organizers state that they will need more to operate the museum once it’s opened.

The Jackie Robinson Museum will, of course, showcase many pieces of Robinson memorabilia. However, that isn’t the sole focus of the institution. It is also intended to work as a site where people can find inspiration and motivation from Robinson’s story, and where they can engage with some of the most pressing social issues of contemporary society.

10. Unpaywall and other services helped make academic papers accessible

At first, this might seem like a minor issue. Who cares about getting to access boring old journal articles, anyway? Of course, savvy readers can spot some major holes in that argument right away.

The major issue, naturally enough, centers on concerns about knowledge and empowerment. In simple terms, the more you know, the more you are able to change your own circumstances and that of the community around you.

That’s why the issue of academic access is so troubling. Many academic journals charge substantial subscription fees, to the point where critics charge that they are unfairly profiting from the supply and demand forces in their market. Then again, it can be costly to produce these journals and maintain a rigorous peer review process for accepted articles.

Still, unless you’re a student with access to a large university’s database subscriptions, accessing these resources can be tough. If you’re at a smaller university or college with a tighter budget, you might not even have this avenue.

For those outside of the higher education system who want to research something or are simply curious, a journal’s paywall can feel like a literal one. Currently, it’s estimated that 75% of scientific articles are locked up behind a paywall. The dominance of a few publishers in academia make matters even worse.

How can people get access to scholarly articles now?

There are less-than-legal ways of accessing articles. Suffice it to say, these methods are pretty controversial. Happily, there are more and more honest ways to get the information you require.

Unpaywall is a free Chrome browser plugin released this year that can let you know if there are open access versions of a given article. When you land on a paper locked away behind a paywall, Unpaywall can let you know if there’s an unlocked version elsewhere.

Other resources for you knowledge-seekers out there include JSTOR, which includes access to some articles via a free membership. You may also want to check out the Directory of Open Access Journals, which collects information for high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarly journals.

9. Southwest had a flight full of dogs and cats

2017 saw some of the most damaging and dramatic hurricanes on record. One of the first to cause serious and widespread damage, Hurricane Harvey, caused major flooding in the region of Houston, Texas. Indeed, it is currently the most expensive hurricane on record, with almost $200 billion in damage. That also qualifies it as the most costly natural disaster to ever hit the U.S.

Many areas received over 40 inches of rain, trapping numerous people. There are at least 91 confirmed deaths resulting from the storm: 1 in Guyana and 90 in the United States. Though it was later overshadowed by even more dangerous storms in the incredibly active 2017 Atlantic hurricane season (Hurricanes Irma and Maria resulted in 134 and, reportedly, nearly 600 deaths respectively), Harvey remains devastating.

In the midst of all that destruction, there was nevertheless signs of hope. People across Texas and the Southern U.S. cooperated to save their neighbors from floodwaters. Many people have also dedicated their time and money to extensive recovery and cleanup efforts.

Even airline companies were able to help. Southwest Airlines transported 64 dogs and cats to San Diego on September 5 as part of this effort. The animals were traveling from Texas shelters to the Helen Woodward Animal Center, based in Southern California.

Animal shelters in Texas were overcrowded with pets that had been displaced by the storm. These included family pets whose owners were displaced by the storm and who could not currently care for them. Existing shelter animals had to be transported out to relieve the pressure of so many pets.

This effort was organized by Operation Pets Alive, a Houston nonprofit volunteer organization.

8. Frogs might help us beat the flu

Influenza is one of those diseases that people tend to accept as an endemic seasonal problem with no real cure, similar to the common cold. Vaccines are important, to be sure, and make a big difference in how cold and flu season moves through a community. However, the presence of the flu virus has long been a fact greeted with resignation.

Now, thanks to a newly discovered frog species, this situation could take a dramatic turn. In fact, some people are predicting that we could see the end of the flu as a constant issue.

It all started with Hydrophylax bahuvistara, a frog that was first described in 2015. This South Indian frog gained researchers’ interest because it releases a gooey secretion on its back. That goo has some genuinely fascinating antimicrobial properties.

Researchers caught individual frogs, gave them a harmless electrical shock to produce mucus, and then collected samples for experiments. They discovered that the secretion contains four different peptides (short chains of amino acids) that can combat viruses. Three of those peptides react with human blood cells, making them unfit for use.

Peptides and proteins

That fourth peptide, however, is proving to be interesting. Scientists, who named the peptide urumin, discovered that it had similar virus-killing properties to the other three amino acid chains, but without the human toxicity.

In a study, scientists inoculated mice with the urumin and then injected them with deadly levels of the H1, or “swine flu”, virus. The mice survived, thanks to the urumin in their systems. It turns out that the urumin peptide binds to a protein on influenza viruses.

If developed for human use, an urumin-based vaccine could be revolutionary. Currently, scientists must develop a new vaccine for each strain of influenza. This can lead to major problems if the season’s flu virus is especially virulent or undergoes an unexpected mutation. In contrast, urumin might help them create a vaccine that works for all strains and can lend further protection.

7. Chance the Rapper helped to revolutionize the music industry

This year, the Grammy Awards allowed streaming-only albums to be considered for its awards. This opened to door for Chance the Rapper, a wildly popular but unsigned artist, to get serious recognition. He won three awards: Best New Artist, Best Rap Album, and Best Rap Performance.

This is seriously big news, considering how the music industry has become increasingly difficult to break into. Artists have previously toiled to gain recognition and get signed with a major label before they can even hope to receive an award like a Grammy.

This meant that executives and other people within the music industry held a lot of power. Oftentimes, they can set stringent guidelines for how an artist creates their work, all in the name of selling more albums.

With the success of someone like Chance the Rapper, however, things are clearly changing. Not only is it now possible for unsigned artists to make it big, but they can do so with far more creative control.

Chance the Rapper’s album, Coloring Book, led to him being hailed as one of the most compelling rappers of his generation. It debuted at number 8 on Billboard’s Top 200 list in 2016. Just a year before, he had snagged a spot performing on Saturday Night Live — the first unsigned artist ever to do that. That’s all exciting enough, but gets even more so when you learn that Chance (a.k.a. Chancelor Bennett) turned down multiple record deals to maintain control.

Instead, he continued to release tracks on Soundcloud and social media. His work has evolved through a range of different styles, from rap to jazz, to Christian rock, to gospel music. No matter the genre, it’s just seriously good music.

6. The U.S. teen pregnancy rate is still falling

In the United States, the number of pregnant teens has fallen to a historic low. According to a report published during the summer, the number of teen pregnancies in 2016 fell 9% compared to the previous year. Researchers expect to see this trend continue into 2017.

A pregnancy is life changing for anyone, but especially so for teens. An expectant teen can anticipate serious challenges when it comes to continuing education, obtaining good childcare and finding economic security.

In fact, the situation can get pretty dire. Teen pregnancy and childbirth made for $9.4 billion in costs in 2010, thanks to the increased need for healthcare and foster care for children. Teen parents are also far less likely to get their high school diploma than their non-pregnant peers.

Furthermore, the children of teen parents are more likely to experience incarceration, lower educational attainment, and serious health problems than other kids. The initial boosts available to children of older parents, like financial stability and greater parental maturity, are not available to these children.

As it turns out, the societal and structural issues associated with teenage parents have significant repercussions for generations to come. That’s why it’s seriously good news to hear that the teen pregnancy rate is so low. With unintended teenage pregnancies on the way out, more and more people will get a chance to have a better and more stable start in life.

It’s still unclear what, exactly, is causing such a large drop in numbers. Nevertheless, researchers have some pretty good guesses. They believe that better information about contraception is helping to prevent pregnancy amongst sexually active teens.

5. Star Wars came out, adding to a rich franchise

Star Wars is often the subject of some pretty strident pop culture discussions. Some fans want to hold onto it like a beloved teddy bear from their childhood. Its familiarity is its feature, they argue. Why change anything about it?

However, for something to stay compelling and relevant, it has to change. That said, there’s no shame in going back to enjoy the now classic original trilogy (though we strongly urge you to reconsider if you really want to watch more than a few clips of the prequel films). Still, for something to evolve with culture in a meaningful way, it cannot reasonably stay the same.

That’s why the latest entry in the Star Wars trilogy was a bit of a relief. Sure, The Last Jedi picks up more or less exactly where The Force Awakens left off. But, without dropping in too many spoilers, it makes some dramatic changes from the hoary old tropes of its predecessors.

Those changes, naturally enough, led to some substantial fan controversy. Some fairly despised the changes, leading to dramatically low audience ratings on popular rating site Rotten Tomatoes.

Critics, however, have given the film a very high aggregate score of over 90%. Some fans have subsequently called for Rotten Tomatoes to revamp its scoring system, or to even shut down altogether (albeit temporarily).

What to think of Star Wars now

So, is The Last Jedi any good? Honestly, with all the controversy over ratings and plot points, you’ll have to figure it out for yourself. It could be that you love the new direction, or that you take it as an affront to the original vision for this fictional universe. Hey, maybe you’re even a Star Trek fan and would prefer to abstain entirely.

Still, in a broader sense, it’s refreshing to see the Star Wars universe with a renewed sense of vigor. All too often, beloved science fiction and fantasy franchises become mired in their own mythology. So, too, do the fans.

Creators then have to tread carefully and make difficult decisions. After all, how are you supposed to create something new within that mythology without inciting the anger of big-time name critics or the bedrock of fans?

Moreover, how do you manage all of that and retain a sense of artistic integrity? It’s a tough job, to say the least. If nothing else, that should help you appreciate the latest entry in the Star Wars canon.

4. Women made large political strides

Let’s not deny it: the political landscape looks pretty grim when it comes to women’s issues. With Republicans controlling both houses of Congress and the executive branch, the focus has shifted to a, shall we say, less friendly position.

The availability of birth control is under attack, as are abortion rights and other medical access issues. Meanwhile, members of the White House cabinet are overwhelmingly white and male. The Equal Rights Amendment now seems like a distant dream.

On bad days, it can feel like we’re in the early stages of The Handmaid’s Tale. It might look like women are under assault, along with other vulnerable groups like immigrants, people of color and LGBTQ people (to name only a few). In some cases, we really are facing serious foes who want to dismantle our rights.

But take a second before you fully descend into a Margaret Atwood-style dystopia. Thanks to some significant political wins, women are poised to make some big changes. In all of the political darkness of 2017, there were some truly bright lights thanks to women.

Women made political history this year

November’s 2017 elections proved to be especially exciting for female candidates. Throughout the nation, women gained local and national office in unexpected but welcome numbers. Vi Lyles became the first black woman mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina. Sheila Oliver was elected Lt. Governor of New Jersey; she’s also the first black woman ever elected to the office.

Two women — Mary Norwood and Keisha Lance Bottoms — were in a close contest to become mayor of Atlanta, Georgia. After a contested election and a likely exhausting recount, Norwood conceded the race to Bottoms in late December.

Transgender women also made history that election night. Andrea Jenkins became the first openly transgender black women elected to public office when she won a seat on the Minneapolis City Council. Althea Garrison was actually the first transgender woman ever elected, but she was not out during her election.

Danica Roem’s victory in the Virginia state legislature was especially sweet. She was running against Bob Marshall, who called himself the state’s “chief homophobe” and was a staunch conservative.

If this gets you fired up for the crucial 2018 elections, you’re not alone. Women are running for office in record numbers, with most aligning themselves with the Democratic Party.

3. The ACA survived

The Affordable Care Act has proven to be a contentious piece of legislation, to say the least. When it debuted in 2010, it was, in fact, the subject of major controversy. Opponents said that it was an example of egregious government oversight. How dare the federal government mandate that citizens purchase a healthcare plan? many wondered. Social issues only complicated the affair. Was it right that the government included birth control?

Proponents, meanwhile, pointed out that the American healthcare system was in need of a serious overhaul. Mandates for health insurance, contraceptives, extended coverage, mental health care and more were necessary for a healthy and happy citizenry.

With the election of Donald Trump to the presidency, many feared the worst for the ACA (also popularly known as “Obamacare”). One of Trump’s most prominent campaign promises was that his administration would do away with the entire ACA. How exactly that would happen remained unclear. Nevertheless, White House officials and many members of Congress supported the plan to extinguish Obamacare.

The problem with repeal

Except, when it came to actually knocking it down, the ACA proved to be far more resilient. Over the course of nearly seven years, many Americans had grown to enjoy the benefits of the ACA. Indeed, recent data indicate that a majority of Americans approve of the sweeping health care law.

Furthermore, sign-ups for Obamacare insurance plans were unexpectedly high this year, given that the Trump administration had devastated budgets for ACA advertising and outreach.

That made politicians reluctant to move forward with a health care overhaul. Republican attempts to rewrite or modify the ACA failed three separate times. That was thanks in part to some surprising defectors, including Republican Senators like Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Susan Collins (R-Maine), as well as insurance companies. The only part that has, so far, been repealed is the individual mandate.

Ultimately, some of the greatest praise should land at the feet of citizens who called their representatives to express their opposition to health care repeal.

2. Gene therapy treatments moved forward significantly

It can be easy to treat gene-based medical advancements as if they’re the opening salvo in a sci-fi horror tale. After all, don’t scientists know that messing with the human genome and its effects can produce previously unforeseen horrors dreamt only by Canadian director David Cronenberg?

However, it’s hopefully clear that such takes are little more than alarmism. No one is creating a mutated monster in their lab, as far as anyone can tell. Instead, they may have been making huge steps towards treating some forms of cancer.

That’s pretty big news, considering that approximately 38.5% of people will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime. Cancer treatments can vary significantly, depending on the type of cancer and when it was first detected. That means a catchall “cure for cancer” is still unobtainable.

With that in mind, though, more specific treatments have gotten significantly better. Gene-based immunotherapy is especially promising. That’s what makes the FDA’s recent approval of gene therapy methods for leukemia very encouraging indeed.

The FDA also approved a groundbreaking gene therapy treatment for an inherited disease that causes childhood blindness. People born with a defective version of the RPE65 gene are unable to produce proteins that make the eye’s light receptors work. The treatment, called Luxturna, will use a harmless virus that can deliver good copies of RPE65 directly to the retina. Though Luxturna won’t be a miracle cure, it is expected to significantly improve someone’s eyesight.

While some have raised concerns about the cost (some speculate that it could cost as much as $1 million for both eyes), we can at least appreciate the scientific advances that have made this possible.

1. The eclipse

Sometimes, it’s good to be reminded that you’re a self-aware collection of cells and electrical impulses on a messy rock floating through space. Depending on your personal brand of spirituality, you may or may not think there’s more to it. We’re not here to make judgments on that one way or another. However, this sense of our place in a vast cosmic arena is still a pretty valuable insight to have in your mental toolkit.

There’s no need to be afraid of it. Instead, it can even be empowering. Neil DeGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist and science educator extraordinaire, is fond of pointing people towards the wonder of this point of view. After all, the basic elements in our cells may seem humdrum, but they, too, were created in the heart of a star at some point. “For this reason,” says Dr. Tyson,

"we are biologically connected to every other living thing in the world. We are chemically connected to all molecules on Earth. And we are atomically connected to all atoms in the universe. We are not figuratively, but literally stardust."

So, perhaps this means that the 2017 solar eclipse is one of the best things to happen this past year. Think of all the millions of people who went outside with friends, co-workers, and neighbors, all sharing the experience of staring at a big deal astronomical event.

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Videos from observers in the path of totality are especially exciting. You might think it’s no big deal, but apparently witnessing the sun eclipsed by the moon, complete with spectacular views of the sun’s corona and subsequent “diamond ring”, is pretty moving.

Here’s hoping you found a little positivity in these 20 events from 2017.