OGN Monday

Editor OGN Daily
Nov 24
4 min read

Kick-starting the week with a global collection of positive news stories.

Anti Crepuscular Rays

The Cono de Arita, in Northern Argentina, is a unique geological formation. This photo was shot at sunset in La Puna region, which is a very remote area with beautiful desert and volcanic landscapes. The image offers a sense of isolation and quiet. It's one of the winners from this year's Drone Photo Awards, which describes the competition as the preeminent global contest for aerial photography and video. Organized under the umbrella of the Siena Awards, it carves out a distinct niche within the realm of photography, intentionally diverging from traditional forms.

Medical AI

Doctors and researchers at Stanford University have created an AI tool that could dramatically boost the efficiency of organ transplants. The model predicts whether a donor will die within the crucial timeframe needed to preserve organ quality, cutting wasted preparations by 60 percent. Trained on data from more than 2,000 donors, the tool outperforms top surgeons and helps ensure that more viable livers reach patients. The breakthrough could ease pressure on transplant teams and give more people a chance at life.

Money For Old Rope

A Turner Prize-nominated artist has launched an exhibition in London where the only artwork is a 10-tonne pile of discarded rope priced at £1 million. David Shrigley spent months scouring the country for unwanted material to prove he really can get money for old rope. He said: “This exhibition started with an idiom. Old rope has no use. It’s also hard to recycle, so there’s a lot of it lying around. I thought, what if I turn that into a literal exhibition of old rope? And then say, yes, this is art, and yes, you can buy it for £1 million.”

Woman's face whilst experiencing a sudden insight — Sudden insight

'Aha' Moments

Scientists have pinpointed how the brain generates ‘aha’ moments. Neuroscientists have identified a clear brain pattern behind the phenomenon of sudden insight, by scanning volunteers as they deciphered hidden images. Moments of recognition triggered a co-ordinated spike in the ventral occipitotemporal cortex, amygdala and hippocampus, creating a burst of emotion and salience that also strengthened long-term memory (did someone just say Eureka!?). Maybe, you'll have one today. In the meantime, here are some funny ones that others have had...

Hilarious Epiphanies: A handful of 'light bulb moments' OGN has come across...

Defeating Cancer

On each side of the Atlantic, scientists are opening new fronts against cancer. In the UK, scientists are driving advances in prevention and ultra-early detection, from the first trials of cancer-stopping vaccines to blood tests that spot tumours way before scans do, reports The Times, with a team of specialists saying: “We are getting very close to defeating cancer once and for all.” In the United States, WSJ says that the breakthroughs are in precision treatment, with immunotherapies, CAR-T, targeted radiation and engineered viruses offering new hope for once-lethal cancers. The bigger picture is a convergence, as prevention, early detection and precision therapy meet in the middle, transforming cancer from a death sentence to a treatable condition.

Map of Mongolia showing areas of protected land — Mongolia to protect 30 percent of all land

Land Protection

Mongolia launches one of the world’s most ambitious land protection plans. Mongolia has approved a 15-year, $200 million conservation deal that will expand protected areas to 30 percent of the country, adding 64,675 square miles (141,600 sq. km) and improving management across existing reserves. The plan also supports sustainable grazing across a further 131,000 square miles (339,000 sq. km), working with 200,000 herding families to reverse overgrazing and protect carbon-rich grasslands and peatlands. Backed by a new fund, the initiative marks a national pivot toward climate resilience and landscape restoration.

Major Shift

World’s seventh-largest coal fleet slated for phase-out. South Korea has joined the Powering Past Coal Alliance at COP30, pledging to stop building new coal plants and to retire 40 of its 61 existing units by 2040, with plans for the rest due next year. The move marks a major shift for one of the world’s largest coal users.

"A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both."

Dwight D. Eisenhower

On This Day

Charles Darwin with a long white fluffy beard

24 November 1859: English naturalist Charles Darwin publishes On the Origin of Species, radically changing the view of evolution and laying the foundation for evolutionary biology.

Charles Darwin's Entire Personal Library: The entire contents of the eclectic personal library of Charles Darwin is now available to view online. The 9,300 entries come with links to the works, making them freely available to read.