Global round-up of positive news snippets to get the week off to a bright start.
We Three Kings
If the weight of responsibility rests heavily on their shoulders, they do not show it. The King is depicted alongside two heirs to the throne, the Prince of Wales, 40, and Prince George, nine, in a new portrait released to mark the Coronation. Together, they represent the future of the British monarchy as it stretches many decades into the future. The photograph was taken by Hugo Burnand in the Throne Room at Buckingham Palace, shortly after the ceremony on 6 May.
Financing Fossil
According to the Institute for Energy Economics, major financial institutions around the world are accelerating their move away from coal. It took almost six years for the first 100 to adopt coal exclusion policies, but since then the number has doubled in just over three years. It's not just a Western phenomenon anymore either - 41 Asian companies now have coal exclusion policies.
DNA Update
For decades, scientists have benchmarked everyone’s DNA against a template that relied mostly on the genetic material of just one man. But not for much longer. Scientists have just announced that they have updated the template, using data collected from 47 people in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Europe. The new DNA map - dubbed the pangenome - better reflects human diversity, and could lead to new drugs and treatments that work for a wider range of people. Eric Green, director of the US National Human Genome Research Institute, which led the research, said the pangenome would help “reduce the chances of propagating health disparities”.
Thousand Year Trust
A veteran of the war in Afghanistan who owns one of the remaining tracts of temperate rainforest in Britain has set up a charity to support the unique and biodiverse habitat. The Thousand Year Trust will work with landowners, farmers and charities to triple the area of temperate rainforest growing across the UK from the 330,000 acres believed currently to exist, to a million acres over the next 30 years. The charity was established by Merlin Hanbury-Tenison, who is rewilding his 300 acre family farm on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall, and aiming to restore its ancient woodland.
Wild Martian River
New images taken by NASA’s Perseverance rover may show signs of what was once a rollicking river on Mars, one that was deeper and faster-moving than scientists have ever seen evidence for in the past. The river was part of a network of waterways that flowed into Jezero Crater, the area the rover has been exploring since landing more than two years ago. NASA’s rover captured this mosaic of a hill nicknamed “Pinestand.” Scientists think the tall sedimentary layers stacked on top of one another here could have been formed by a deep, fast-moving river.
Party Girl
Actress and dancer Joan Crawford on how to host a good party: “The best parties are a wild mixture. Take some corporation presidents, add a bearded painter, a professional jockey, your visiting friends from Brussels, a politician, a hairdresser, and a professor of physics, toss them all together, and try to get them to stop talking long enough to eat! It's especially important to have all age groups. I've never noticed any generation gap. All the younger people I know are bright and attractive and have something to say and they dress like human beings. They love to listen, too. They make wonderful guests."
"If you always do what interests you, at least one person is pleased." Katharine Hepburn
On this Day
15 May 1928: Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse made his debut with the premiere of the cartoon Plane Crazy.
Huge Conservation Deal
Incredibly Rare Find
8 year old girl discovers 3,700 year old dagger in her school playground. Neolithic...
Good News Magazine
Articles from yesterday's OGN Magazine. More...
From the Archives
What's The Most Nutritious Plant-Based Milk? Scientists have the answer. Drink up...
Mood Booster
My Waffle Wedded Wife: A groom's gaff, a bride's laughter, a joyful union!