A rebirth for Rwanda’s gorillas

TicToc Tonight

TGIF, TicToc readers! Start your weekend in high spirits with these 10 uplifting stories from the past week.

1. Rwanda's gorillas are bouncing back.
Once on the brink of extinction, a sustained conservation campaign has successfully grown the population from 680 a decade ago to more than 1,000 today.

2. The Museum of the Future matches its building.
It doesn't open until next year, but some are already calling the structure, with its unconventional torus shape adorned in Arab calligraphy, one of the most challenging buildings ever erected.

3. Is the solution to plastic pollution a floating vacuum?
A Dutch non-profit recently launched the Interceptor, a solar-powered device that can scoop up to 50 tons of debris from rivers per day before it reaches the sea.

4. D.C. united for a bi-PAW-tisan Halloween bash.
Senate staffers took a break from Capitol Hill to show off their dogs dressed as sharks, spiders and more at the annual pet parade.

5. Japan unveiled a car made of wood.
The vehicle that's made of cellulose fibers will sustainably lower carbon emissions and boost fuel efficiency.

6. A nurse adopted a patient…and saved his life.
When a 27-year-old man was taken off the transplant list for a heart because he didn't have a post-op caretaker, his nurse stepped in and became his legal guardian.

7. Meet the newest hire at Chicago's state attorney's office.
This 2-year-old black Lab named Hatty will support child victims of sexual assault as they navigate the legal system.

8. Still awake, a woman livestreamed her own brain surgery.
When 25-year-old Jenna Schardt needed to have a mass of blood vessels removed, she let doctors broadcast it to thousands of people in the name of education.

9. Apple's emojis got more inclusive.
The latest iOS update introduced a spate of gender-neutral characters to iPhone users, after Android added non-binary emojis in May.

10. Colombia elected its first female and lesbian mayor.
Voters in Bogota, Colombia, elected Claudia Lopez Hernandez earlier this week in a giant step forward for women and the LGBTQ community.

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Thanks for reading!
-Masiel Torres