Global Good News Summary
- Editor OGN Daily
- Jun 15
- 4 min read
Quick synopsis of all the top good news stories from last week.
It has been a week when Mexico became the first country in modern history to elect its judges at all levels by popular vote, including the first supreme court chief justice elected democratically on Earth - Hugo Aguilar, a noted indigenous rights defender of the highest esteem in Latin America; and, to bring the climate debate into the mainstream, Comedy & Science have teamed up to create the Climate Science Translated series - pairing scientists with comedians, who translate climate science in no holds barred language - something many academics struggle to do. It may be a great route to get more people engaged in climate discussions; there's also plenty of other good news...
Health & Wellbeing
Survival Rate Doubles: CAR-T therapy doubles remission time in blood cancer patients. For years, multiple myeloma was an incurable blood cancer with few good options. That may be changing, says the New York Times. A new study shows that CAR-T therapy - where a patient’s immune cells are reprogrammed to attack tumours - can double survival rates in those with advanced cases. Some patients have remained cancer-free for over four years.
Medical Breakthrough: Researchers are “overwhelmed” by a recent breakthrough that marks a significant step toward an HIV cure. In a new study, an Australian team revealed it accomplished what was “previously thought impossible.”
Twice as Effective: Patients suffering from blood clots may soon benefit from a new treatment approach that's twice as effective as current techniques - and could pave a path for better outcomes in the case of strokes, heart attacks, and other clot-related disorders. “It’s unbelievable,” said Jeremy Heit, co-author of a study on the novel technique, called milli-spinner thrombectomy.
Menopause Diet: Switching from a diet including meat to a low-fat vegan diet reduced severe hot flashes in menopausal women by a staggering 92 percent. “Given these and the other known benefits in terms of lowering heart disease and cancer risk, women in midlife should consider leaning into a plant-based diet,” said Dr Stephanie Faubion, who is the medical director for The Menopause Society.
Good News For Oldies: New proof that older people from around the age of 50 are smarter or more cognitively able today than ever before.
Nature & Conservation
High Seas Treaty: At the United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice, France, 18 new countries ratified the High Seas Treaty for a total of 49 - just 11 shy of the 60 needed for the agreement to be enforced. The swell of support added momentum to what could end up being a historic sea change in how the open ocean is governed. It's a “powerful victory” for the people who have pushed for high seas protections to take centre stage on the world’s environmental agenda.
Nazca Lines: Peru’s government has reversed its controversial decision to shrink the protected area surrounding the Nazca Lines - massive geoglyphs etched into the desert over 1,500 years ago and one of Peru’s most fragile desert ecosystems.. The switch followed severe backlash after the government approved a 42 percent reduction in the zone - about 2,400 sq.km (926 sq. miles) - and to allow miners to seek formal permits in previously restricted areas.
Land Restitution: In California’s largest land-back conservation deal to date, the Yurok Tribe is getting some of its home back. Namely, 47,097 acres of forested land around the Klamath River (an area roughly three times the size of Manhattan). The historic move comes more than 150 years after Indigenous people were displaced during the Gold Rush and had 90 percent of their territory stolen.
Conservation Success: In a conservation “success story,” the number of lynx in the Iberian Peninsula increased by 19 percent last year to over 2,400 total. Iberian lynx conservation projects have been running for over 20 years, helping increase the total number of animals from less than 100 in 2002 to more than 2,000 today.
Samoa Meets Target: The Samoan government has created nine new marine protected areas that cover 30 percent of Samoa’s ocean, an area roughly the size of Taiwan. The MPAs mean that Samoa meets the global 2020 agreement (known as '30 x 30') for all countries to protect 30 percent of its land and ocean by 2030.
Clean Energy
New Fuel Cell: Clever boffins at MIT have developed a fuel cell that packs three times as much energy as today’s best batteries, offering a lightweight option for powering trucks, planes, or ships.
Rail Revolution: Indian Railways operates roughly 12,000 trains daily, carrying over one billion tons of goods and more than 8.5 billion passengers annually. Authorities report that, today, over 90 percent of the nationwide railways’ traction energy comes from electric rather than fossil sources, with plans to increase this to 95 percent by 2030.
And Finally...
Area 51: Pentagon official confesses that doctored images of ‘flying saucers’ were distributed in order to throw people off the scent about what was really going on.
