Good News Monday
What better way to start the week than with a global round up of positive news nuggets?
Power of Simplicity
The winners of the 2026 Minimalist Photography Awards have just been announced, celebrating the striking power of simplicity. This year, Polish photographer Marcin Giba won the Grand Prize with his series, Last Winter, comprising seven evocative images captured in his hometown of Rybnik, Poland. “I shot them using a drone and they capture the incredible forms nature has created on the frozen lakes,” he reveals. “I realize that the winter I remember from childhood - frosty and white - is becoming less frequent. Snow in the city is becoming a fleeting, almost ephemeral phenomenon.” He adds, “So when the conditions finally allow and I take flight, I feel like I’m documenting a vanishing beauty.”
Good Quick Hits
33: The percentage share of India's Delhi Metro system’s power usage met by solar.
2: Seconds needed for a new AI tool to spot heart disease; it extracts more information from an ECG than the human eye can see.
30: Percentage of lung cancer patients whose tumors shrank in a new trial of the blockbuster drug daraxonrasib, which was recently approved for pancreatic cancer.
Spotted: First signs of a dark matter particle! If confirmed, the “monumental” physics discovery could unravel secrets of the early universe and shake up the standard particle physics model.
Two Centuries: For the first time in 200 years, a Przewalski’s horse foal has been born in the wild, a significant milestone after the horses were reintroduced to their native Kazakhstan in 2024.
AI Jobs: The Economist estimates AI has created roughly one million jobs in the United States since 2023, from data-centre electricians to newly invented ‘head of AI’ roles, comfortably outpacing the sector’s 200,000 AI-attributed layoffs.
Circularity: The wind industry is entering a new era of environmental circularity, with wind farms now able to be recycled or reused nearly in their entirety.
Gender Parity: India’s university enrollment has grown 31.5 percent over the last decade, reaching gender parity for the first time.
Sunshine: Solar is now China’s top source of power capacity, surpassing coal for the first time.
First Known Footprints
The first known series of footprints from an adult Tyrannosaurus rex has been found in North Dakota by a team of scientists. The 23ft-long trackway - consisting of four three-toed footprints, two left and two right - was found in the dinosaur fossil area known as Hell Creek Formation by researchers. Each of the footprints is about 3ft (0.91m) long, with a stride of about 13ft (3.96m). The massive footprints date from 66.5m years ago and are the first of their kind to be found and identified. While isolated footprints and juvenile, or related species, tracks have been found before, this is the first known series of footprints left by a wandering T rex.
Matching Dino Footprints: Tracks found in Africa and South America - 3,700 miles apart - provide evidence of the last place dinosaurs were able to travel between before the two great continents split.
The 20-5-3 Rule
There are lots of handy numerical heuristics intended to help us live more fulfilling lives (such as the 4-7-8 technique for better sleep and reduced anxiety), but with all those figures floating around in the wellness paradigm, it can be tricky to recall what means what, but the 20-5-3 rule is worth noting. Created by researcher Rachel Hopman-Droste, the science-backed framework prescribes certain amounts of time we should all spend outdoors to reduce stress and boost well-being. We already know just how impactful nature is on mental and physical health, so think of the rule as a simple blueprint for turning that awareness into action. Here’s how the 20-5-3 rule breaks down: 20 minutes outside three times a week; five hours in semi-wild spaces each month; three days fully off-grid per year. Or you could try this...
Foot Loose
Wearing away the skin on his feet until they bled, Eamonn Keaveney from Ireland has reclaimed his record for the longest barefoot journey with an epic hike three times as long as his last one. Starting in Istanbul, Türkiye, he trekked 6,805.83 km (4,228.94 miles) without his shoes on, arriving in his hometown of Claremorris, Mayo, Ireland, 369 days later. “I got thousands of weird looks! But that's something you get used to quite quickly. In some cases I was walking through very rural areas that don't get a lot of visitors, which in itself made me stand out." He walked further than the distance of the continental United States, covering many different terrains and battling through all types of weather.
"It has always been easy to hate and destroy. To build and to cherish is much more difficult." Queen Elizabeth II
On This Day
14 September 1752: Britain and the British Empire, including the American colonies, adopt the Gregorian Calendar after skipping 11 days between September 3 and September 13 - to realign with the solar year and Western Europe. Popular folklore often recounts riots by citizens demanding "give us back our eleven days," though modern historians note these protests were largely a myth or exaggerated political satire.
Today's Articles
'Party of a Lifetime': Dolly Parton's estate has announced Dollyfest, a star-studded festival, over two consecutive weekends, in 2027.
Making a Difference: The remarkable story of Wangari Maathai's environmental impact, and her Nobel Peace Prize.
Mood Boosting Video
Trailer for a biopic of Himalayan Sherpa Tenzing Norgay who, with Edmund Hillary, became first to top Everest in 1953. Release date: 10 October.
