Quick round up of all the best good news stories from last week.
In a week when it was announced that a new discovery of a 2,000 year old Roman Spa Complex revealed the spectacular luxury and exquisite decoration of a private bathhouse in Pompeii, and that Greta Gerwig’s 'The Chronicles of Narnia' will be screened in theatres first, possibly hailing a New Netflix Era that will be good news for cinemas, an extraordinary act of blind philanthropy occurred in France. A wealthy Parisian has left his €10 million fortune to a tiny Normandy town he had never visited before. Roger Thiberville, a meteorologist, shared but one thing with the town of 1,800 residents: its name. Thiberville is a typical Norman town, including a 19th-century chateau, but little else that would find it among either headlines or tourist trails. But, happily, that won't make the mayor or the town's residents any less happy with their remarkable windfall.
In other good news...
Medicine & Wellbeing
Early Detection: Researchers at Oxford University have unveiled an innovative liquid biopsy test capable of detecting six cancers at an early stage. Powered by AI, the technology could revolutionise early screening and diagnostic practices.
Brain Washing: You might think science had figured out why we sleep a long time ago, but we're actually still not sure. About a decade ago, Dutch researcher Maiken Nedergaard proposed that your brain gets washed, quite literally, while you sleep, by cerebral spinal fluid. Now new research by her team gives more detail into how this actually occurs, and others can investigate the team's evidence. If they turn out to be right, they'll get a Nobel Prize for this.
Australian Oysters: An antimicrobial protein found in the blood of Sydney rock oysters could help in the fight against drug-resistant superbugs. When used in combination with antibiotics, it improved their effectiveness from two- to 32-fold against certain bacteria.
Work/Life Balance: For the first time, work-life balance has surpassed pay as the leading motivator for employees globally, according to an international workplace study now in its 22nd year. The Dutch recruitment company Randstad’s latest annual review surveyed 26,000 workers across 35 countries, finding that work-life balance has edged ahead of pay as the main motivator for workers (83% v 82%).
Maternal Leave: A single mother is entitled to same parental leave as couple, Spanish court rules. Court in Murcia region says woman should get 32 weeks of leave - the amount given to a couple - rather than 16 weeks.
Poverty Plummets: New data shows that rural poverty in India dropped from 25.7 percent in 2011-12 to 4.86 percent by March 2024; Indonesia's poverty rate fell to 8.57 percent in September 2024, its lowest level ever, lifting 1.84 million people out of poverty since March 2023; and in Vietnam, the multidimensional poverty rate fell to below 1 percent in 2024.
Basic Electricity: In one of the more remarkable marches of human progress, Bangladesh has reached the point of near-universal electricity access for its citizens. Coupled with this rapid electrification, the country has also seen one of the greatest single declines in the poverty rate of a nation ever seen, falling from 44.2 percent in 1991 to 18.7 percent in 2022, reports World Bank.
EU Employment Up: Remember the European employment crisis of a few years ago, when young people couldn't find a job and were leaving in droves? Unsurprisingly, there hasn't been nearly as much coverage of the fact that unemployment has steadily declined since then, dropping by more than 50 percent. Indeed, it is now at its lowest point in more than three decades, reports Our World In Data.
Conservation & Nature
Biden's Last Moves: In the final days of his presidency, the outgoing president has edged the U.S. 848,000 acres closer to the 30x30 nature targets with the designation of two National Monuments in California. Furthermore, Biden recently protected 625 million acres from offshore oil and gas drilling across United States coastal waters.
Migratory Giants: Humpback whales spotted all along Britain's south coast - possibly re-establishing ancestral routes that were abandoned in the 19th- and 20th-century.
Rights of Nature: The Constitutional Court of Ecuador has determined that coastal marine ecosystems have rights of nature, including the right to “integral respect for its existence and for the maintenance and regeneration of its life cycles, structure, functions and evolutionary processes,” as per the country’s constitution. Ecuador was the first country in the world to establish that nature held legal rights - and has already protected land and wild animals. The latest ruling is the first time that Ecuador’s rights of nature have been applied to marine environments.
Couloir Vert: The Democratic Republic of Congo has pledged to create the world’s largest protected tropical reserve, encompassing an area roughly the size of France.
Conservation Successes: New figures show that the removal of invasive rats, and solar-powered speakers playing bird calls have brought the endangered Polynesian storm petrels back to Kamaka Island in French Polynesia for the first time in more than a century. Efforts to secure stopover wetlands used by the critically endangered Siberian crane on their epic annual migrations have resulted in the near doubling of their population to 7,000 individuals. And a snow leopard conservation project in Kazakhstan has led to a rebound in their numbers to around 170 individuals, a level not observed since the 1980s.
Science & Engineering
Largest Camera Ever Built For Astronomy: On a mountain ridge 2,700m above sea level is the new home to one of astronomy’s most important new facilities, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory.
Full-Scale Ship Tunnel: In a world first, Norway is to carve a mile-long tunnel directly through a rocky peninsula. It will save operating costs, reduce wear and tear on roads, and lower emissions, aligning with Norway’s environmental goals.
Climate & Sustainability
Finally! Brazil has appointed a veteran climate diplomat with no direct ties to the fossil fuel industry to be the next COP president. Corrêa do Lago has been Secretary for Climate, Energy and Environment at Brazil’s foreign ministry and Brazil’s chief climate negotiator since 2023.
Great Solar Wall: NASA has released images from space of a truly gargantuan project. China has embarked on a multi-year initiative to create a vast solar array capable of powering Beijing - a city with 22 million inhabitants. The project, expected to be finished in 2030, will be 250 miles (400km) long and 3 miles (5km) wide, stretching across the Kubuqi Desert, in Inner Mongolia.
Australia On Track: The country's target for 82 percent renewable energy by 2030 is on track. Renewable energy now accounts for 44 percent of Australia's electricity - with enough investment coming in now to sustain that progress.
Europe EV Boom: Starting on 1 January 2025, new legislation mandates that 22 percent of sales must be hybrid and electric vehicles, or else automakers will face hefty fines. Only 13 percent of all vehicles sold in 2024 in Europe were electric. Reuters says we should therefore expect to see an EV sales boom over the next 12 months, driven by discounts and other incentives.
And Finally...
The team at OGN Towers thought we should conclude today's round up of all the top good news stories, with Spotted in The Wild: A random selection of funny signs. Why not? It's good to laugh...
Today's Articles
Private Tour: Anyone can now explore St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome from home via a 3D replica powered by artificial intelligence.
France 1894: Uproar as cats appear to defy the Laws of Physics in a series of photos presented by physiologist Étienne-Jules Marey.