Steel yourselves -- we're almost to Blue Monday, the infamous date thought to be the most depressing day of the year. Back in 2005, someone made a list of all of the factors that could make for a really bad day and decided that the third Monday in January was when they all converged. Start with the fact it's a Monday, then factor in some winter gloom, a post-holiday slump (and possible holiday bills) and abandoned New Year's resolutions and yes, you've got the perfect equation for a day spent in bed with your head under the covers.

Here's the thing: Blue Monday isn't real at all! The whole concept was a marketing tactic by a travel company to approximate when people would be most likely to daydream about booking a vacation! I say we reclaim this fake sad day. However you're feeling, let's all agree to do something this Monday to keep our spirits high and our hearts hopeful. Call it an Un-Blue Monday.

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Our favorites this week

Get going with some of our most popular good news stories of the week

Image credit: Reuters

Out for a spin
Just when you think you've seen it all, along comes a fish driving a car. Well, not a car, but a fish-operated vehicle -- or FOV for short. A team at Ben-Gurion University in Israel developed the robotic device, which uses lidar, a remote sensing technology, to determine the vehicle's ground location and the fish's whereabouts inside a mounted water tank. Then, they set about teaching six goldfish how to drive. Surprisingly, some were very good at it! They could sense that there was some sort of correlation between their movement in the tank and the movement of the vehicle, and used that awareness to motor around. Honestly, if I saw that in person I'd never recover. The point of the project was to determine whether fish have the cognitive capability to navigate outside their natural environment. Now that we know they can, scientists can learn even more about animals' essential navigation skills.

Image credit: Getty Images/AP

Pinch hitters
Hats off to these two total pros who stepped when shortages left their communities in the lurch. Carla Stickler hadn't been on Broadway in seven years, but answered the call to fill in for one of the lead roles in the musical "Wicked." Though she works as a software engineer in Chicago now, she made it to New York City and brought the house down as the "Wicked" Witch herself, Elphaba. In Missouri, a third-grade class from Meramec Elementary School got a huge surprise when Harrison Bader, a pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, showed up as their substitute PE teacher. Like so many schools, the staff had been spread thin, but Bader's presence brightened things up for a bit. The school's principal hopes other people with some free time may be inspired to help at their local schools, too.

Dancing through life
Spangles! Pom-poms! Batons! The Sun City Poms have it goin' on -- and their youngest member is a spry 58 years old. This cheer squad from Sun City, an age-restricted community in Maricopa County, Arizona, has been strutting their stuff since 1979 and normally performs at 40-50 events a year. Wherever they go, they always turn heads and break hearts. Places like Sun City have changed what retirement means for a lot of people, and for the Poms, it means staying active and having a blast with some good friends (the sparkly costumes are a bonus). Some in the group, like 80-year-old Mary Zirbel, used to be majorettes, cheerleaders or dancers, and haven't missed a beat since. Seriously -- here's Zirbel, twirling a baton better than I've ever done anything in my life.

A bright idea

Can you spot what's special about this illustration? It's one of many images created by Nigeran medical student Chidiebere Ibe to bring more representation into medical literature. Ibe, 25, is the creative director at the Association of Future African Neurosurgeons, and first gained widespread attention for his illustration of a Black pregnant mother and her fetus. Now, he's been invited to have some of his illustrations published in the second edition of a handbook designed to show how different conditions appear on dark skin. That's one of the myriad reasons this kind of representation is important: Doctors who have praised Ibe's work say conditions sometimes present differently on dark skin, and having a clear depiction could save lives.

You gotta see this

Image credit: Sam Engelking

This intricate sculpture looks like it's carved out of onyx or fine ebony wood. But it's actually Legos! Ghanaian Canadian artist Ekow Nimako has been creating high-art pieces out of all-black Legos since 2012. The result is a stunning array of figures: a mythical owl, a griffin-like cat, and a futuristic reimagining of the medieval kingdom of Ghana that took 100,000 pieces to complete. Nimako's art has become so popular and culturally significant, Lego is even releasing a documentary about his work in February.

Wanna get away?

Image credit: Theerasak Saksritawee/www.popumon.com

Taiwan's Rainbow Village, an art park in Taichung, has a history almost as colorful as the murals that adorn its every surface. It was originally built as a settlement for retired Chinese soldiers after World War II. In 2007, veteran Huang Yong-fu, then 84 years old, learned that the settlement, which had been his home or decades, was going to be demolished so the land could be sold to developers. To say goodbye, he picked up a brush and began to paint. He painted his furniture, his walls -- then the walls of his neighbors. Students from nearby universities began noticing the kaleidoscope of colorful figures and shared them online. They became so popular, a petition was started to preserve the buildings. The Taichung City government agreed and turned the site into a public park in 2014. Huang Yong-fu still lives there to this day, painting and greeting visitors who know him by his well-earned nickname, Grandpa Rainbow.

Hear, hear!

Hopefully the recognition that this beautiful film is receiving can serve as a reminder of just how funny, complex, and powerful Deaf voices can be, and that stories with actors who happen to be Deaf can be mainstream stories.

- Troy Kotsur, who became the first Deaf actor to score an individual SAG nomination for his work in the coming-of-age film "CODA." The title refers to the acronym "Children of Deaf Adults," and Director Siân Heder, who is hearing, said it was important to involve Deaf collaborators at every step of the production to make sure the film was as authentic.

Who knew?

Image credit: Enikő Kubinyi/Eötvös Loránd University

Dogs can actually distinguish between different languages! Neuroethologist Laura Cuaya tested the neural reactions of 18 different dogs as they listened to a language they were familiar with, a language they weren't, and some non-linguistic nonsense. Sure enough, the dogs' brain scans showed different activity patterns in the primary auditory cortex when listening to nonsense words. Unique areas of the brain also lit up when an unknown language was spoken, versus when familiar speech was heard. Nice try, polyglots, but it looks like the dogs are on to you.

To your health

Here's some great health news: US cancer deaths are continuing their nearly two-decade decline, and lung cancer deaths, in particular, are seeing an encouraging drop thanks to what doctors are calling "major progress" in early detection and treatment. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death, but those deaths have declined at a greater rate than other cancers -- about 5% each year between 2015 and 2019. There are several reasons for the decline, including new technologies and procedures, and more robust screening processes.