Wednesday's Good News

Editor OGN Daily
12 minutes ago
3 min read

Wednesday's global round up of positive news stories.

Diver dressed as Santa Claus in a large aquarium — Credit: @thandojo | X

Is That Santa?

Most Santa Claus sightings are in the usual haunts, like a mall or Christmas market. But at an aquarium in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, visitors can spot the jolly fellow in a very different environment - underwater. During the holiday season, aquarist Faiz Mahamud swaps his usual diving gear for a Santa suit and dives into the oceanarium to feed the fish. The festive spectacle is one of the aquarium’s main Christmastime attractions.

Pretty Penny

A three-coin set of the final pennies minted for circulation in the US sold at auction for $800,000. Another set sold for $180,000. In all, the final pennies sold for a combined nearly $17 million. Sold by Stack’s Bowers Galleries, the sets represented the 232 years since the penny was first minted in Philadelphia in 1793. Each included some of the last pennies struck for circulation at the The U.S. Mint’s facilities in Philadelphia and Denver, plus a 24-karat gold penny minted in Philadelphia. Each coin bears a unique omega symbol (Ω), marking the end of the penny. The Philadelphia U.S. Mint struck the final circulating one-cent coins in November after Trump ordered the Mint to stop producing new pennies earlier this year. The last small-change coin the government canceled was the half-cent in 1857.

How Much is a Dime Worth? In this case, $506,250.

The designs for six new stained-glass windows for Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris — Credit: Studio Claire Tabouret

New Designs

The designs for six controversial new stained-glass windows for Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris have gone on display in a new exhibition at the Grand Palais. The show features full-size models, sketches and other preparatory work, reports Le Monde. The windows, designed by French artist Claire Tabouret, were commissioned to commemorate the cathedral’s restoration and will be replacing six windows that suffered no damage during the fire, causing some tension among cultural heritage groups. “Every time there is a new artistic intervention in a historic part of Paris, there is a controversy,” says Tabouret, citing I. M. Pei’s glass Pyramid at the Louvre. "They go on to become beloved parts of the city. Change should be made with caution, and this project is very cautious, very gentle, harmonious.”

Alyssa Tapley wearing glasses and a white cardigan — Alyssa Tapley

Not Incurable

A revolutionary treatment has reversed aggressive and incurable blood cancers in some patients, with almost two-thirds of patients in remission. The therapy involves precisely editing the DNA in white blood cells to transform them into a cancer-fighting “living drug”. The first patient treated, Alyssa Tapley, is now enjoying life and plans to become a cancer scientist. The treatment involves wiping out the patient’s immune system and growing a new one, which takes intensive care but has shown impressive results, particularly for those with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia who had run out of other treatment options.

An albatross called Wisdom, the world’s oldest-known breeding bird — Wisdom | Credit: Jon Plissner / USFWS

Albatross Cam

The Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge is home to Wisdom, the world’s oldest-known breeding bird. But the 75-year-old is just one of many (i.e., roughly 1.5 million) albatrosses living on the atoll, and now the public can get a glimpse at the thriving wildlife. The refuge is not open for visitation, so the nonprofit Friends of Midway Atoll set up a 24-hour wildlife camera on one of the atoll’s three islands to “bring the place to the people.” Tune in.

Rendering of Oxford United FC's all-electric stadium — Credit: Oxford United FC

Sustainable Stadium

Oxford United is to build the UK’s first all-electric football stadium, a 16,000-seat venue powered entirely by renewable energy. Whilst it's not exactly a Premier League soccer team facility, it will feature solar panels, heat pumps, and timber construction, and - most importantly - the £150 million ($200m) project will slash emissions by 80 percent. Alongside football, it will host events, a hotel, and community facilities - redefining sustainable stadium design. If it succeeds, the all-electric football stadium model could spread across the football world.

"The first fall of snow is not only an event, it is a magical event. You go to bed in one kind of a world and wake up in another quite different." J.B. Priestley

On This Day

The cover of the first issue of Vogue in 1892

17 December 1892: The first issue of Vogue was published. Initially a weekly high-society journal, it became a prominent American fashion magazine, with Diana Vreeland and Anna Wintour among its most notable and influential editors.