OGN Friday
- Editor OGN Daily
- 46 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Wrapping up the week with some tasty bite-sized chunks of good news.
Perfectly Timed Shot
Sports have it all - guts, glory, heartbreak, and triumph are just some of the emotions part of every game, match, or duel. And professional sports photographers capture it all. One photo competition recognizing the very best for their abilities to do so is the World Sports Photography Awards, sponsored by Canon. This coveted contest recently announced its winners of the 2026 competition, showcasing the grit and beauty of this photography genre. Photographer Edgar Su won the contest’s top prize for his image titled Carlos’ Shadow Hits a Ball. The shot features Spanish tennis player Carlos Alcaraz right after he struck a ball during his fourth-round match against Jack Draper at the 2025 Australian Open.
Mini-Sphere in D.C.
Since its grand opening in 2023, the $2.3 billion Las Vegas Sphere has become famous around the world for, amongst other events, hosting a 40-show U2 residency and wildly successful The Wizard of Oz screenings. Now, versions of the structure are being planned in other locations, including Abu Dhabi, where a full-size replica Sphere is already under construction. Now, officials announce a new - albeit smaller - Sphere outside Washington, D.C. With a planned 6,000 seats, the new mini-Sphere would be located in National Harbor. It would be roughly one-third the size of the 18,000-seat original, though it will feature many of the same bells and whistles, such as the highest-resolution LED screens in the world; immersive surround sound technology; “haptic” vibrating feedback chairs; and the capacity for wind, scent, environmental and temperature changes.
Cool Breakthrough
Scientists in Hong Kong at HKUST have built the first refrigerant-free device to reach sub-zero temperatures, a breakthrough that could reduce food waste and greenhouse gas emissions. As refrigeration uses about 20 percent of global electricity, and today’s vapor-compression technology depends on refrigerants that have high global warming potential, the good news is that the new elastocaloric cooling device - which can reach temperatures as low as -12C (10F) - does not use greenhouse gas refrigerants, and is the first such system in the world to reach sub-zero Celsius temperatures.
By The Numbers
78: Percent drop in malaria deaths in India since 2015, part of a larger trend toward disease control in the country.
20.7 million: Global EV sales in 2025, a bump of 20 percent.
30 percent: Share of electricity in the EU generated by wind and solar in 2025, surpassing fossil fuels for the first time.
3: The number of major offshore US wind projects that are back under construction now that a federal judge has unwound a suspension order from the Trump administration.
In The Dog House?
Thirty-six years after it was checked out, a copy of Gene Zion’s Harry the Dirty Dog made its way back to a library in Virginia. Dimitris Economou found the book while visiting his parents in Greece whilst looking for something to read to his 7-year-old son. “As we got to the end, I realized it was a library book. I felt like I had to return it. … It just felt like the right thing to do.” According to a Facebook post from the public library system, Economou’s copy of the book was due on November 6, 1989, when he was 5. But Harry the Dirty Dog spent the next three and a half decades traveling the world. If you think that's a long time, try this: a German text that was checked out around 1667 or 1668 was returned to the University of Cambridge’s Sidney Sussex College in 1956, nearly 300 years later.
Rock Star
A rock beloved by climbers at a British Columbia beauty spot is on its way home, months after it went missing. The smooth lump of granite, nicknamed Portable by climbers, was considered the “perfect stone for working on balance and practising grip”, said CBC News. Earlier this month, Portable was spotted more than 1,000 miles away, in Bishop, California, dressed up in goggles and a “Canadian drinking toque” described as “really sick”, according to local climber Ethan Salvo, who is bringing the rock home.
“Ageing is an extraordinary process whereby you become the person that you always should have been.” David Bowie
On This Day
30 January 1847: The town of Yerba Buena was officially renamed San Francisco by order of Mayor Washington A. Bartlett. The original name, Spanish for “good herb,” referred to a native, fragrant, mint-like plant - Clinopodium douglasii - abundant in the area. The change aimed to capitalize on the international recognition of the already-known San Francisco Bay and the nearby Mission San Francisco de Asís.
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