Celebrating the New Year with a global round up of positive news stories.
What Makes Someone Wise?
Certain people just seem to embody wisdom: grandparents and teachers, the changemakers we admire from afar, the intellectuals whose ideas have influenced our own. However, given that cultures vary widely throughout the globe, it would make sense that the criteria for being deemed “wise” would as well. To test that hypothesis, researchers from the University of Waterloo in Ontario enlisted 2,650 participants on five continents to analyze their perceptions of wisdom. Interestingly, all surveyed agreed on two factors that make a person wise: reflective orientation (i.e. thinking logically, emotional control, thinking in many ways, etc.) and socio-emotional awareness (i.e. sense of humor, awareness of bodily expressions, and intellectual humility, etc.). “To our surprise, the two dimensions emerged across all cultural regions we studied, and both were associated with explicit attribution of wisdom.”
“Besties”
The Category Animal Portraits Judge at the Nature Photographer of the Year 2024 awards says: “This enchanting image of two young fox siblings - one with glossy black fur and the other reddish-orange - captures a magical moment of connection in a dreamy, golden setting. The tender scene where one fox’s tail wraps lovingly around the other, conveys a deep sense of affection and friendship. The photographer’s timing and composition are flawless, highlighting the contrast in their fur and the warmth of their bond. This portrait radiates hope and endearment, making it a standout in this category.” OGN will be featuring more of the competition's fabulous images in the OGN Sunday Magazine. In the meantime, you may like to take a look at...
Spoilt For Choice
Affordable new electric family cars - particularly those that are EU-made - have been tough to come by in Europe for the past few years. There were no launches of homegrown electric models for less than €25,000 ($26,000 / £20,740) across the EU during 2022 and 2023, according to the campaign group Transport & Environment. But the good news is that in the past few months everything has changed, with a rush of new cars ranging from the Fiat Grande Panda to the Citroën ë-C3, the Hyundai Inster to the latest Dacia Spring - priced at just €18,000 ($19,100 / £14,995) - and the Renault 5. Suddenly, buyers have options. That is no coincidence. Stricter EU carbon emissions targets kick in today (1 January 2025), meaning carmakers will have to sell more electric cars or face fines.
Goodbye Coal
The UK closed its last coal power plant in September this year, 142 years after opening the world's first coal plant. Slovakia closed its last coal plant six years early, Italy committed to stop coal generation by 2025, and Poland's second-biggest power utility agreed to shut down coal plants by the end of the decade. Chile is phasing out coal faster than any other developing nation due to its robust environmental standards, and Indonesia announced plans to retire all coal plants within 15 years. In the United States, a new report revealed that 99 percent of coal plants are now more expensive to run than replacing them with local wind, solar, and energy storage.
Finland's World First
Ship sewage discharged into the Baltic Sea contains large amounts of fecal bacteria and solid waste. Moreover, it is nutrient-rich, exacerbating eutrophication and causing toxic algal blooms in the summer months. Passenger ships in Finnish waters have long been prohibited from dumping this sewage into the sea, instead sending it to on-shore wastewater facilities. But now cargo vessels will be held to the same standard. The new law will make Finland the world's first country to implement such comprehensive wastewater regulations.
Critical Materials
After years of warnings about the scarcity of metals, 2024 saw those fears largely dissipate. In just one year, the world's known lithium reserves increased by enough for 250 million EVs, cobalt by enough for 500 million EVs, nickel by enough for 600 million EVs, and copper by enough for 1.7 billion EVs. A massive lithium discovery in Arkansas revealed up to 19 million tons of reserves, whilst prospectors uncovered 2.34 billion metric tons of rare-earth elements in Wyoming, and Europe’s biggest deposit of rare-earth minerals was discovered in Norway.
“There is always something bright on the horizon - even if we have to squint to see it. Even if we have to create it ourselves.” Sophie Blackall
On This Day
1 January 2002: On this day, the monetary unit of the European Union was introduced with the issuance of both currency and coins, and by March 2002 it was the sole legal tender of participating member states.
Today's Articles
Mood Boosting Video
Anglophenia: One woman demonstrates 17 British accents.