Synopsis of all the stories worth celebrating.
The thousands of American Red Cross servicewomen who traveled to the UK during World War II - whose stories are largely unknown - is being rectified by the American Air Museum in Britain; Team USA Olympic athletes no longer have to balance the risk of going broke whilst going for gold; drawings reveal that the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan is building what is sure to be the world's most beautiful airport; and the Norwegian Parliament has agreed to more than double its financial support to Ukraine for 2025, bringing the total sum for this year to €7.24 billion. None of the politicians were against helping Ukraine in its defence against aggressor Russia, from the far right to the far left.
Meanwhile, in other news...
Medicine & Health
Seeing Again: Children born with leber congenital amaurosis, a rare condition that causes blindness, can now see, following a groundbreaking gene therapy treatment conducted in the U.K. in 2020. Four years after the treatment, all 11 children involved in the trial, reported being able to see shapes, find their toys and recognize faces.
Life-Saving Treatment: In a medical first, doctors in the U.S. treated a fetus with a rapidly progressive congenital disease - while it was still in the uterus, reports LiveScience. In this case study, the child who was treated via their mother before it was born has made it to two and a half years old with no symptoms.
ULEZ: London's Ultra-Low Emission Zone has significantly reduced air pollution by the equivalent of removing 3 million one-way passenger trips from Heathrow Airport to New York City, according to a new report.
Acts of Kindness: Dr. Michael Zollicoffer has been helping patients in one of Baltimore’s poorest neighborhoods for decades, refusing to charge those who couldn’t pay. After Zollicoffer found himself struggling financially due to two cancer diagnoses, his patients came together to help their selfless doctor, with nearly 1,000 people crowdsourcing more than $100,000. “Dr. Z will not give up on you, so we damn sure ain’t giving up on him,” one patient said.
Discoveries
Stone Age Voyagers: Ancient DNA shows Stone Age Europeans voyaged across the Mediterranean to Africa. The first genomic study of ancient people from present-day Tunisia and northeastern Algeria shows that Stone Age populations who lived there more than 8,000 years ago were descended, in part, from European hunter-gatherers. The discovery, reported in Nature, is the first direct evidence of trans-Mediterranean sea voyaging during this time.
Origin of Water: Water originated in primordial supernovae 13.6 billion years ago, according to a new study. Groundbreaking simulations by British astronomers show that water molecules formed in cooling clouds surrounding the universe's first supernovae just 100-200 million years after the Big Bang. This breakthrough discovery establishes water as a fundamental element of the earliest galaxies, suggesting this essential ingredient for life has existed almost as long as starlight itself.
Climate & Conservation
Powerful Climate Solution: Indigenous peoples of the Amazon accidentally invented a way of trapping carbon for millennia.
Monarchs Bounce Back: Monarch butterflies wintering near Mexico City this year took up double the area they covered in 2024. This impressive bounce back is attributed to better humidity and climate, as well as ongoing efforts to boost the number of plants the butterflies depend on for sustenance and reproduction.
Single Use Plastic: A Danish city has successfully figured out a way to radically reduce coffee cup waste.
Science & Technology
Safe Space For Science: A French university is providing funding for American scientists to continue their research in France. Aix Marseille University’s “safe space for science” program is for U.S. scientists researching topics like climate change who “feel threatened or hindered in their research” due to the new policies of the current presidential administration.
Map of The Cosmos: NASA’s newest space telescope, called SPHEREx, finally got off the ground this week, after a series of delays. It will gather data on millions of stars and galaxies - and search for the ingredients of life. It will create an unprecedented multi-coloured map of the entire sky.
Starline: New 3D video tech, developed by Google and HP, aims to put remote workers in the room - putting a premium on how much the tech will ease the cognitive burden of videoconferencing.
And Finally
A Canadian brewery is offering a 'Presidential Pack' to help the country's beer drinkers get through the second Trump administration. Moosehead Breweries says the crate - which retails for CA$3,500 (approx £1,990) - contains 1,461 cans, enough for one beer a day until Trump exits the White House. "While we can't predict how the next four years will go," said the brewery's marketing director, "we have a feeling that this large pack will come in handy." As OGN Daily went to press, the website says it has already sold out. But new stocks are imminent.
Today's Articles
Zero Emissions: In good news for people and planet, a new process can make steel that is completely carbon neutral.
VW and Rivian: New multi-billion dollar deal looks to be good news for everyone wanting more affordable electric vehicles.
The Magic of Mushrooms: Danielle Stevenson uses fungi to transform ugly, toxic brownfield sites into thriving meadows.
World's Shortest IQ Test: It will reveal how average your intelligence is in just 3 questions. Why not give it a go?