OGN Wednesday

Editor OGN Daily
Aug 6
3 min read

A smorgasbord of tasty positive news nuggets to perk up the day.

Pink lotuses flowering on Wular Lake, Kashmir — Credit: Umar Dar

Joy And Relief

Wular Lake, in Kashmir, once supported 5,000 people who harvested the plant’s edible roots, but a devastating flood hit the region in 1992. Over the next three decades, the condition of the lake - designated as a Ramsar wetland of international importance since 1990 - worsened. Finally, in very good news for local people, the Wular Conservation and Management Authority began a de-silting programme in 2020 to restore the lake’s depth and remove waste carried down by the Jhelum River and its tributaries. Happily, the lotuses are now back and flourishing again. Officials say the revival of the lotus would help boost the local economy, which was otherwise on the verge of collapse. “The return of the lotus in Wular is a profound reminder that environmental restoration isn’t just about aesthetics or data points; it’s about restoring human connection with the land,” says Meera Sharma, a Delhi-based environmentalist. “Seeing these flowers bloom again after decades is like watching history breathe.”

Support your local indie bookstore

Amazon Alternative

Online bookselling platform Bookshop.org saw 65 percent growth in the first six months of 2025. It's an independent bookseller that partners with local bookstores to allow you to support a local bookstore with every purchase. The Amazon alternative now works with 2,471 independent booksellers, distributing 10% of all non-affiliate profits to them twice a year. In July, each eligible bookstore partner received at least $744.27.

Massive New MPA

Portugal has announced a new marine protected area that covers 38,000 square miles surrounding the Gorringe Ridge, home to 850 marine species. The Gorringe Ridge is the tallest seamount - a large submarine volcanic mountain - in Western Europe, and is known for its biodiversity. Among its most famous inhabitants are “soft corals,” or gorgonians, and deep-sea sponges, which call the 1,100 reefs found throughout the ridge home. Portugal has now raised its percentage of total protected territorial waters from 19 percent to 27 percent - well on its way to protecting 30 percent by 2030.

Tammy Maida, smiling after starting to recover from early onset Alzheimer's — Tammy Maida | Youtube/Alzheimer's Assoc.

Fighting Alzheimer's

A new study offers hope for early-onset Alzheimer’s patients to slow or even improve the progression of their disease. New findings from a team at the University of California, San Francisco, suggest that participants who made intensive lifestyle changes improved their memory, judgment and problem-solving skills. Participants were challenged to stick to a vegan diet, exercise daily and join online support groups for 40 weeks. The pillars of the treatment plan sound simple enough - diet, exercise, stress reduction and social support - but the results for some participants were transformative: Tammy Maida, who was diagnosed in her late 50s, is riding her bike and balancing spreadsheets again at age 68. “I’m coming back,” Maida told researchers. “An older but better version of me.”

AI Physio

In a rare moment of glory for AI, which is usually in the news for taking jobs or helping kids skip homework, the first AI-run physio clinic for Britain's NHS has halved the waiting list for back pain and musculoskeletal services. This successful pilot was accessible to 2,500 patients in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough - where wait times were as long as 18 months. One patient described the AI physio as “intuitive” and seems like a welcome innovation for some who need immediate care. It reduced waiting lists for back pain by over half and saved 856 hours of clinician time a month.

Oregon Milestone

Oregon is set to host the largest solar-plus-storage facility in the U.S. - marking a significant milestone in renewable energy innovation. The Sunstone Solar project, approved by state regulators in November 2024, will span nearly 9,500 acres and feature 1,200 megawatts of solar capacity paired with up to 7,200 megawatt-hours of battery storage. Once operational, this Oregon solar-plus system will generate enough clean electricity to power approximately 800,000 homes annually, making it the largest solar-plus-storage installation in the nation.

“Look around you and marvel.” Maggie Smith

On This Day

Gertrude Ederle, age 19, swimming the English Channel

6 August 1926: Gertrude Ederle, age 19, of New York became the first woman to swim the English Channel, breaking the men's record by nearly two hours. She was one of the best-known American sports personages of the 1920s.