Aug 7

OGN Wednesday

Mid-week collection of concise, positive news stories to perk up the day.

Golden Lining

A spinal injury ended Adriana Ruano's Olympic dream of being a gymnast. Ruano was training for the 2011 world championships in gymnastics, a qualifier for the 2012 London Olympics, when she felt pain in her back. An MRI showed the then-16-year-old had six damaged vertebrae, a career-ending injury, and Ruano's doctor advised she take up shooting if she wanted to stay in sports without aggravating her back. The good news is that the advice paid off as Ruano won gold in the women's trap with an Olympic-record score of 45 out of 50 - and Guatemala's first ever Olympic gold medal.

Plane Sensible

Parents should't have to pay a fee to sit next to their children when flying, according to the White House, which is moving to ban airlines from charging families extra to be seated together. Under a rule proposed by the Department of Transportation, airlines would be required to seat parents and kids 13 and younger together free of charge when adjacent seating is available at booking.

The Better Boarding Method Airlines Won't Use: Who knew that there were so many ways that airlines use - and could use - to get passengers on a plane? Watch video...

Rendering of a football stadium on top of a Saudi skyscraper

Sky High Football

Saudi Arabia is bidding to host the 2034 World Cup soccer tournament. If successful, government authorities plan to build a futuristic new stadium within its audacious 170-km-long mirrored city in the desert, the Line. The Line itself is an incredible horizontal skyscraper currently under construction in northwest Saudi Arabia. It'll be built in stages and it will take the form of a mirrored rectangle in the desert, hosting up to 9 million permanent residents once complete - so around the population of New York City in a big mirrored rectangle in the desert.

Conservation Victory

Canada has taken a step towards protecting the spotted owl, releasing a draft recovery strategy that identifies over 400,000 hectares of old-growth forest critical to the survival of the bird. The historic win is thanks to two decades of First Nations leadership and overwhelming public pressure. "Our ancestors taught us the spotted owl is our messenger between this world and the spirit world and how they speak to us, and this new recovery strategy gives them chance at survival," says Chief James Hobart, Spô’zêm First Nation.

Africa's Green Jobs

A new report by the development agency FSD Africa has found that greener economies could bring millions of jobs to some of the largest countries in Africa by 2030. The report predicts the creation of up to 3.3 million new green jobs across the continent, with the majority in renewable energy, particularly solar. About 10 percent of the jobs created, which will mostly be in renewable energy, will require university degrees, 30 percent will be “specialised” work that needs certification or vocational training, and 20 percent will be administrative. “Unskilled” labour will be more stable, with opportunities for upward mobility, the study predicts. The researchers behind the report are urging policymakers, funders and educational institutions to invest in training a workforce in green industries. They say it could “contribute to the formalisation of African economies”.

Swiss Efficiency

Roads need to be in good condition so we can drive safely, but getting stuck in traffic because a stretch of highway is closed for maintenance can be maddening. In Switzerland, engineers have addressed this issue by developing an innovative mobile bridge that enables cars to drive over it while repairs are being done below. Called the ASTRA Bridge, the first-of-its-kind structure is about 843 feet long by 25 feet wide, and stands at a little over 15 feet tall. At 1,250 metric tons, it’s a massive beast, but can be set up over one weekend.

“Look for the good, look for the joy, look for the love, and it will find you.” Agapi Stassinopoulos

On This Day

7 August 1948: At the Olympics in London, track-and-field athlete Fanny Blankers-Koen, who was pregnant with her third child, helped the Dutch team win the 4 x 100 relay, becoming the first woman to capture four gold medals at a single Games; she earlier had won the 100 metres, the 200 metres, and the 80-metre hurdles.