Upbeat News Monday
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Ensuring the week gets off to a flying start with today's global collection of upbeat news nuggets.
Extraordinary Effort
The finalists for Ocean Photographer of the Year 2026 have been revealed, with the eventual winners to be announced later this month. But the image featured here must be one of the favourites. It features a male white-spotted pufferfish creating an intricate spawning nest in the sand. The fish carefully shapes a two metre-wide radial pattern using only his fins. Built over several days, this structure and its subtle details reveal the extraordinary effort this small fish invests in finding a mate. Fine sand, shells and fragments are arranged from the centre outward, each piece carried into place by the fish. On the subject of underwater beauties...
Something Different
Manta Resort on Pemba Island in Tanzania offers an under-the-sea room at its hotel. It is 820 feet away from the shore in the Indian Ocean and features an underwater bedroom. The current generation of the room has three levels: bedroom underwater, a sea-level lounge, and a rooftop deck. It is anchored above a coral reef garden, so the views are spectacular.
Some Good Quick Hits
100K: Solar panels installed across Africa every day so far in 2026, reports Ember.
Turkmenistan: The world’s worst country for methane mega-leaks, has finally begun to plug them. Minimizing the leaks could have a rapid positive impact on reducing planet-warming emissions.
35: The percentage of coral cover in the northern Great Barrier Reef in 2026, up from 30 percent last year.
Canada: The country has announced plans to massively enhance wind and hydropower generation. It would produce enough electricity to light, heat, and cool all the homes in Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver combined.
Child Marriage: A bipartisan bill to outlaw child marriage has cleared California’s legislature after a decade-long fight. Once Gov. Gavin Newsom signs the bill into law, there will only be two states - Mississippi and New Mexico - left with no minimum marrying age.
Plasma Loops
A spectacular series of glowing plasma loops arcs above the sun in this remarkable view captured from an astrophotographer's backyard. This image is a still from a high-resolution timelapse recently captured by astrophotographer Mark Johnston from Scottsdale, Arizona.
It shows a coronal loop arcade - a series of arching loops of hot plasma shaped by the sun's magnetic field - extending high above the solar limb, or apparent edge of the sun. Coronal loop arcades like this one are a rare sight, but Johnston was particularly lucky to catch this one almost side-on at the edge of the sun, revealing the dramatic arching shape in exquisite detail.
Very Rare Dime
A rare dime that inadvertently launched one of most successful coin collecting careers in history has sold for an astounding $1.25 million. The coveted 1894 S-Dime was auctioned during Stack’s Bowers Galleries “Rarities Night” and is known as a Barber Dime for its designer, Charles E. Barber. Only 24 of the 10-cent pieces were ever manufactured. Of those, just nine are known to still exist, making them exceptionally coveted by collectors. Coincidentally, Stack’s Bowers is named after one of those very collectors. In 1957, a 19-year-old Dave Bowers successfully bid on the same Barber Dime auctioned earlier this month. Bowers made international headlines given his age, and the idea that anyone would pay $4,750 for a dime. He soon leveraged both to help launch his own career in numismatism. Bowers resold it for $6,000 in 1960.
Canada's New $20 Bill
Canada has unveiled a new $20 banknote featuring a portrait of King Charles III, the first new monarch to appear on a Canadian banknote in more than 70 years, following the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022. The banknote was revealed at a Bank of Canada event on Thursday - a "very special day", central bank governor Tiff Macklem said. A unique feature of the banknote is its vertical orientation. The back shows an image of the Vimy Ridge memorial in France to commemorate Canada's role in World War I. The vertical, polymer banknote will enter circulation early next year.
"I train like I've never won, and I compete like I've never lost." Eileen Gu, freestyle skier and winner of three Olympic gold medals
On This Day
7 September 1936: Boulder Dam on the Colorado River between Nevada and Arizona begins operation. It created Lake Mead, the largest water reservoir in the United States, and supplies vital hydroelectric power to millions of people and businesses across Nevada, Arizona, and California. Designated Boulder Dam by the Roosevelt administration, but officially renamed Hoover Dam by Congress in 1947.
Today's Articles
Prices Slashed: Australia has cut the price of electricity in half. "This is a story of global significance."
National Treasure: Nina Simone's first home has been restored to commemorate her extraordinary life.
Don’t Worry, Be Happy: New study conclusively shows that mental decline is ‘not inevitable’ with age.
Mood Boosting Video
20 Years of Planet Earth: As part of the celebrations, BBC just re-released the hilarious Grizzly Bears Enjoy A Back Scratch!
