Do we need heroes? Galileo thought not, musing gloomily: “Unhappy is the land that needs a hero.” But more recent bards demur. Bowie dreamed of heroes in divided Berlin. Hugh Cornwell lamented their decline, and Bonnie Tyler was holding out for one for what seemed like forever.

That was then. These days, we at the Upside are overwhelmed by how many heroes there are out there. They just don’t often get the airtime they deserve.

Take Indonesia. It needed heroes this week after the earthquake-tsunami that killed more than 1,300 people. It found one in the form of Anthonius Gunawan Agung, an air traffic controller who stayed at his post to ensure the safe takeoff of a passenger jet even as the control tower teetered. He did not survive, but was posthumously promoted.

Half the world away, in Lesbos, our reporter Lorenzo Tondo uncovered another modern-day hero, Salam Aldeen, an Iraqi-Danish man who has built a small play area for the 3,000 children stuck in one of the world’s most dismal refugee camps.

Thanks to a private donation, Salam Aldeen purchased inflatable castles and built a small football pitch. The children arrive en masse around 4pm and return home in the evening after having viewed a cartoon projected on a large screen.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Children watch a cartoon in the Hope and Peace Centre in Lesbos, Greece, founded by Salam Aldeen, an Iraqi-Danish activist. Photograph: Alessio Mamo/The Guardian

We asked Lorenzo to find out more about Salam Aldeen and he will be reporting in full next week.

Of course, heroes can be thinkers as well as doers, and early October is always a Nobel time of year. This year, the academy recognised scientific progress in immunology, laser physics and protein chemistry in their awards. There were two female recipients, a rarity.

It culminated with peace prize honours for Denis Mukwege, perennially shortlisted for the award, and Nadia Murad, who, in different geographies and in different ways have worked tirelessly to end sexual violence in conflict.

Elsewhere in the Upside this week, we looked at two early-stage schemes in Britain that promise much: one seeks to get women more actively involved in that bastion of patriarchy, the mosque; the other seeks to provide more focused schooling for children who have experienced early life trauma such as neglect and abuse. Both seem promising. We shall follow their progress.

What we liked

This is my backyard. Photograph: Timby.com

There was no Nobel literature prize this year, but it isn’t the only fiction accolade out there. The Washington Post reported on the story of Caitriona Lally, a janitor awarded a prestigious literary prize by the university that she cleans.

Apps can be overhyped, but Timby, a simple tool that helps indigenous Africans document their land and provide evidence of attempts to drive them off it, feels like a game-changer, according to New York magazine.

What we heard

They deserve to be decorated

One of many punny remarks under our article about a group of people recycling paint in northern England

I was overcome with emulsion

Another.

Where was the Upside?

In Bangkok, Thailand, where architects are finally coming up with ideas to combat the very urgent threat of floods.

Also in a zoo in Karachi, Pakistan, where Noor Jahan, a 14-year-old elephant, was able to have her birthday cake and eat it.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest In Bangkok, Noor Jahan has her cake and eats it. Photograph: Akhtar Soomro/Reuters

If there is a story, innovation or trailblazer you think we should report on, write to us at theupside@theguardian.com. Or just write to tell us what you think about the Upside.