Good News Monday
Kick-starting the week with an upbeat collection of news nuggets from around the world.
Mystery May Be Solved
A team searching for Amelia Earhart's lost plane has begun its expedition to the Pacific, where it plans to study a mysterious object that researchers say may be her aircraft. The item, known as the Taraia Object, has been visible in photos dating back to 1938, the year after Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan disappeared over the Pacific Ocean during Earhart's attempt to become the first female pilot to circle the world. Earhart, Noonan and their Electra 10E plane were never found. Researchers identified the "visual anomaly" in a lagoon on Nikumaroro, a small island about halfway between Australia and Hawaii, together with other compelling clues. Now, a team of researchers from Purdue University and the Oregon-based Archaeological Legacy Institute are on their way to examine the object in the hope of solving "the greatest mystery of the 20th century".
Good Quick Hits
33.8: The percentage share of renewables in global power generation in 2025, according to new data. Above a third for the first time, overtaking coal.
Pandora's Box: The world's largest jewelry company - Pandora - is opening a crafting facility powered entirely by renewable energy and using 100 percent recycled gold and silver in a pioneering step for the industry. The fine-jewelry factory will also be the world’s largest.
10 Years: Coastal villages in Scotland are celebrating the return of marine life a decade after a victory to ban the seabed-damaging practice of scallop dredging.
Rare Hwatong
Researchers in South Korea have identified the country’s oldest known gunpowder weapon. It’s a hwatong, or “fire tube,” a ten-inch bronze instrument dating to the 14th or 15th century. “This is an extraordinary discovery with immense academic, historical and cultural value,” says the director of the Naju National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage. “It comes from a crucial transitional period between the late Goryeo and early Joseon dynasties, when physical artifacts of firearms are exceptionally rare.” The weapon weighs a little more than two pounds and is carved with 28 Korean characters. The Heritage Service translates them to read, “In the 12th month of the Jeongsa year, the Hwangja Hwatong was made. Its weight is one geun and 14 nyang. Supervised by Noksa An Hyu-bo; made by the artisan Seok.”
Oops
Officials for the 2032 Summer Olympics and Paralympics in Brisbane accidentally released the Games’ logo a few days ahead of schedule. But just as an Olympian would, they didn’t skip a beat and made the most of the mistake. “The publicity has been incredible,” said the chief marketing officer for Brisbane 2032. The logo is inspired by a cheeky cockatoo native to the region, featuring a wink that “sets the tone for a Games filled with joy, carrying a message of hope and optimism to the world.”
First Female PM
The king of Morocco has named Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri as the country's first woman prime minister, after her her liberal-centrist party won the parliamentary elections. Her government is expected to make major investments linked to the 2030 FIFA World Cup; the world's largest football stadium is already under construction and Morocco is now home to Africa's first high-speed rail network.
Oat Cuisine
A Dutch woman who brought her own water from the Netherlands has beaten around 30 rivals to win the coveted “golden spurtle” at the World Porridge Making championships in Scotland. Gina Saarberg, 28, said she first discovered porridge in her student days, as it “isn’t something that is widely eaten in the Netherlands.”
New National Park
It’s been six years since the United States last designated a new national park, but that is set to change after the Senate unanimously passed a bill that would make southeastern Arizona’s Chiricahua National Monument the country’s 64th national park. Known as a 'Wonderland of Rocks', the 12,025-acre mountain landscape is filled with hoodoos, rock pinnacles, and soaring spires. “Chiricahua is one of Arizona’s most extraordinary places,” said Sen. Mark Kelly. “Designating it as our state’s fourth national park will protect this remarkable landscape for generations and bring new visitors and economic opportunities to southeastern Arizona.” Now it just needs one final signature from the president.
"They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night." Edgar Allan Poe
On This Day
12 October 1900: First modern submarine is commissioned by the US Navy as the USS Holland, named for its designer John Philip Holland. It measured 53 feet 10 inches long with a 10 foot 3 inch beam, and combined a gasoline engine for surface running with an electric motor for silent underwater travel.
Today's Articles
Nature Makeover: The Bank of England’s next series of banknotes are getting a nature makeover, replacing Churchill and other British historic figures.
Transformative: Breakthrough in fabric recycling for polyester-cotton blends could keep 100 million tons of textiles out of landfill.
Aw, Shucks: Since the 1930s, oyster house sign offered free oysters to any man who turned 80 and walked in with his father. Sounds impossible, right?
Mood Boosting Video
Queen of Thailand: The first female monarch to fly a fighter jet solo.
