Optimism is not about good times but about people trying to make them better

It's OK to be sad – but you can try to do something about it

Some things are just sad. A fond farewell. Sudden loss. Unfulfilled potential. Little children doomed before they’ve properly started. The tragedy that someone somewhere takes their own life every 40 seconds.

So it is always inspiring to meet people determined to do something about it.

United for Global Mental Health are a coalition of activists from dozens of countries who have had enough. They’ve had enough of watching this public-health crisis deepen – on our streets, in our prisons, in our hospitals, in our schools – while governments faff.

“We find, unite and amplify,” chief executive Elisha London told me. This week, to coincide with world mental health day, they opened something rather remarkable: The Museum of Lost and Found Potential, an exhibition of items from people with mental health issues. If you are in London, do check it out – it’s essential and moving. Sad, but good.

Otherwise, here are our top picks of the week.

• The Iraqis translating the internet into Arabic. 90-second read

• Can chewing gum tell you when you’re more likely to conceive? One-minute chew

• The rise and rise of Bangladesh. Forty-year miracle

• British Airways to make up for its mess. Two-minute read

• The refugee camp girls who kicked back against a football ban Three-minute read

• Bold plan to ‘laser map’ the Earth Three-minute read

You can also catch up with all this week’s Nobel prize winners:

• chemistry: the lithium-ion men

• physics: a cosmological trio

• medicine: the hypoxia troika

• literature: not one, but two this year

• peace: see below

Lucky numbers

Climate change is terrifying – but occasionally it delivers a windfall. The Indian monsoon was the wettest for 25 years, with 10% more rain than average. Rice and wheat farmers may be set for a bumper year, Reuters reports.

In other data news, your Upside editor turned 50.

What we liked

A new site that feels like the Upside’s artistic cousin, visualising positive trends in a series of beautiful graphics – one a day for the next year.

We also liked this piece in the Conversation on why/how climate change coverage needs to move on from scare stories to tales of inspiration and empowerment.

And finally, we salute this year’s £20,000 Wellcome photography prize, which among other things solicits images to dispel visual cliches of mental illness.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest What does depression look like? Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian

What we heard

Linda Offord responded to our article last week about taking the plastic out of women’s sanitary products:

I think a major problem relates to the plastic in nappies which end up incinerated or put in landfill. If plastic can be removed from menstruation products what about nappies and incontinence pads?

Becky Burchell is the founder of a new arts festival that launches next week in central England:

Much of our current popular culture – TV, movies, news, theatre – paints a picture of a bleak, dystopian future where humanity is tearing itself apart, leading to increased eco-anxiety, negativity and paralysis. It’s time to tell different stories – ones that stretch our dreams and inspires courage and hope.

Following on from our work on kindness, John Keenan got in touch:

This year’s Kindness UK Doctoral Conference Award for the University of Sussex will be launched on World Kindness Day, 13 November. A lunchtime panel discussion at the university’s Attenborough Centre will feature Kind Rebellion, a combination of music, animation, and academic debate. The event will include a performance by New Note Orchestra which comprises musicians in recovery from drug and alcohol addiction.

Where was the Upside?

In Ethiopia, celebrating its first Nobel winner, after the prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, was awarded the 2019 peace prize.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Peacemaker: Abiy, centre, with his erstwhile rival Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki, last year Photograph: Mulugeta Ayene/AP

Thanks for reading. Where’s the Upside in your world? Drop us a line at theupside@theguardian.com to let us know.