Today's uplifting bundle of good news nuggets to put a spring in your step.
Want to give the perfect hug? If you're not sure how, the good news is that psychologists at London's Goldsmiths University have worked out how to do it best. The perfect hug should last five to 10 seconds with criss-crossed arms, they have concluded. Scientists found that 10-second hugs provoked the most pleasure, with five seconds giving slightly less joy, and a one-second squeeze inspiring the least happiness.
OGN wishes a happy Thanksgiving to all our American readers and hope you enjoy lots of high quality hugs!
It's been a good week for Adele as '30' becomes biggest-selling album of 2021 in US after three days. Her album is also outselling rest of UK Top 40 combined.
Beginners luck: A teenager has struck gold - or rather, bronze - on just her third metal detecting dig after picking up the hobby in the summer holidays, and it could lead to a significant windfall. Milly Hardwick, 13, discovered a “once in a lifetime” Bronze Age hoard of axes and blades in a field near Royston in Hertfordshire in September. She found 21 items, prompting archaeologists to come and evaluate the site. By the time the dig was complete the haul totalled 65 artefacts dating back to 1,300 BC.
Acts of kindness: 11-year-old Evan Bisnauth from Bronx, New York, visits local Animal Care Centers after school. There he patiently reads stories to shelter dogs to help them get used to people and eventually be placed in a loving home. For his passion and dedication to helping animals, Evan won the 2021 Humane Award of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. “I just want people to know that shelter dogs are not bad dogs...,” he said. “And to all the kids out there, you are never too small to make big things.”
Popcorn could soon be used to create sustainable insulation for buildings, replacing the current non-biodegradable materials. Scientists have invented a method to create sustainable building insulation boards using “granulated” popcorn with “excellent” thermal insulation properties and good protection against fire. The plant-based, environmentally friendly material is a sustainable alternative to current building insulation products that are derived from petroleum, said scientists from the University of Göttingen in Germany.
An Alzheimer's vaccine may be on the horizon, following successful trials. The vaccine trains the immune system to fight an amyloid beta protein in the brain - and researchers in the US and Germany have seen encouraging results by changing the structure of the amyloid in the vaccine before administering it.
Good news for Brits as Nadhim Zahawi says he believes the UK could be the first major economy in the world to transition from pandemic to endemic using Covid-19 vaccines. Zahawi, who is the former Minister for Covid Vaccine Deployment, hailed the government’s decision to lift restrictions in the summer as a success. He told LBC: "Our four-step plan meant that we were able to open up the economy in the summer. Some said it was a mistake - I think it was absolutely the right thing to do. "We will probably, I hope, without being complacent, be the first major economy in the world to demonstrate how you transition (from) pandemic to endemic using vaccines."
Wise words: "One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor." George Carlin
Dive in Deeper
Sensational Palau
By any measure, this is one of the most beautiful places on Earth. It's an island country in the western Pacific in an area known as Micronesia. Enjoy a quick aerial tour!