Celebrating the end of the week with some bite-sized chunks of upbeat news.
Coronation Gift
Australia is gifting King Charles III a donation to Friends of the Western Ground Parrot to mark his coronation. The government has pledged $10,000 to help conserve the critically endangered 'shy and rarely seen' species in honour of the monarch, on behalf of the people of Australia. The Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, said he was pleased to mark the coronation with the national contribution as 'His Majesty King Charles III has long championed conservation and sustainability.'
Look Up
This month, the Eta Aquarid meteor shower will give stargazers something to wow at. The phenomenon started on April 15 and, as EarthSky reports, it is expected to last through May 27. However, the right time to catch the most is now upon us. The mornings of May 5, 6, and 7 are labeled as the best time to watch the meteors fly above us (approx 20 per hour) in the moonlight, right before dawn. At that time, the shooting stars' radiant is at their highest, meaning you'll have a better chance to catch them.
Hawaiian Monk Seal
A popular beach in Honolulu, Hawaii, was recently shuttered for a very special birthday. An endangered Hawaiian monk seal pup was born on Kaimana Beach, where it'll spend the next five-to-seven weeks nursing from its mother and generally learning how to be a seal. A temporary fence was erected around the beach to protect the two, but also to safeguard human beachgoers unfamiliar with the ferocity of a mother seal. The Hawaiian monk seal is one of the most endangered seal species in the world, mostly due to habitat loss, so every pup counts. To many more birthdays, young pup!
Good Week For...
Alzheimer’s sufferers, after a late-stage trial of the drug Donanemab showed it slowed cognitive decline by 35 percent. Dr Richard Oakley, from the Alzheimer’s Society, said it “could be the beginning of the end” of the disease.
Heroes Among Us
When Russia invaded Ukraine, thousands of Ukrainians were forced to abandon their homes and, in many cases, their beloved pets. When days of abandonment turned into weeks, Odesa-based veterinarians Valentina and Leonid Stoyanov, decided to stay put and care for the animals left behind. Within a week of Russia's invasion, the Stoyanovs had around 400 animals in their care. They take in pets and wild animals alike, treating them and adopting them out or returning them to their natural home. Despite the challenges of their work, the Stoyanovs told CNN that they remain committed to their work. “We just hold on and continue to do what we do because we see how it is important for animals, for all these lives around us,” Valentina said.
Kings and Queens
The UK's leading producer of heritage playing cards - whose popular kings and queens of England pack has been updated ahead of the coronation to include one of Charles III - saw its export business almost completely wiped out by Brexit, so OGN thought it should give it a 'shout out' to help it along. Need some new cards? Visit Heritage Playing Cards
"When nothing seems to help, I go and look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that blow that did it, but all that had gone before." Jacob Riis
On this Day
5 May 1809: For her technique of weaving straw with silk, Mary Kries became the first woman to receive a U.S. patent; the process was largely used in the creation of hats and other headware.
Aperiodic Monotile: One of mathematics’ most intriguing visual mysteries has been solved - by a hobbyist in England. Einstein shape...
Mood Booster
Official Trailer: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.