Monday's Upbeat News

4 minutes ago
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Kick-starting the week with Monday's eclectic global collection of upbeat news nuggets.

Spirit bear, with its white fur, pausing on a rock beside a river — Credit: Jack Plant/Figure 1 Publishing

Spirit Bears

For more than 11,000 years, First Nations peoples of western Canada have shared their habitat with the spirit bear - an extremely rare subspecies of black bear distinguished by its white coat. Yet most people who live in the Great Bear Rainforest will never encounter one. Enter Jack Plant, a wildlife photographer who has spent a decade following the bears deep into the forest, determined to capture their lives on camera. Plant has photographed them fishing for salmon, pausing on a rock beside a river, squaring off against rival bears and growing from shy cubs into regal, confident adults. “It’s almost like you want to cry,” he said. Images from his adventures have been compiled into new book Spirit of the Great Bear, containing 90 photographs from the forest.

Tell Me UR Good News

When Megan Keaveny got a rather disappointing response to the flyers she posted asking strangers to share their good news using a QR code, the New Yorker tried a more direct tactic. She made a sign and stood on the sidewalk with her phone ready to record, and hoped for the best. “I got so fed up with doomscrolling that I was down to try anything to spread some goodness in any way that I could get my hands on” and judging by the reception her videos receive on TikTok and Instagram - she has over 78,000 followers under the handle @signswithmeg - the idea is working.

aliens.gov

Like most politicians, Donald Trump did not campaign on the issue of space aliens. But 15 months into his second term, UFO enthusiasts have been buoyed by the Trump administration’s apparent fascination with extraterrestrials, with one expert claiming the human race has “never been closer” to being presented with hard evidence of aliens. After a largely alien-free first 12 months, the president has committed himself to UFO disclosure in 2026. In February, Trump directed various departments to release “government files related to alien and extraterrestrial life”, and the White House took the unusual step of registering domain “aliens.gov” in March, setting pulses racing among believers online.

Musical Merger

The $64 billion merger proposal for Universal Music Group by billionaire investor Bill Ackman will no doubt rumble on for a while, but it has revealed one startling fact: Universal owns the rights to roughly one-third of the world’s recorded music, including records by The Beatles.

"Most Ignored Organ"

The clitoris has been ignored by medicine, shrouded in shame and secrecy. Now, 30 years after the same was done for the penis, the clitoral nerve network has been fully mapped out for the first time. The 3D map was created by academics at Amsterdam University Medical Center in the Netherlands. It builds on earlier work done by Australian urologist Helen O’Connell, who, outraged by the absence clitoris in textbooks, created a detailed image of the organ in 2005. O’Connell said that the new 3D map marked a “major step forward in understanding female anatomy”.

UK Renewables Record

For the second year running, the UK sourced most of its electricity from renewables in 2025.

The latest government data shows that renewables generated 52.5 percent of the UK’s electricity last year, surpassing the previous high of 50.4 percent in 2024. To put that into perspective, Australia's numbers are similar to the UK but renewable energy sources provided approximately 26 percent of total U.S. electrical generation in 2025.

"I always loved running ... it was something you could do by yourself, and under your own power. You could go in any direction, fast or slow as you wanted, fighting the wind if you felt like it, seeking out new sights just on the strength of your feet and the courage of your lungs." Jesse Owens

On This Day

Postage stamp featuring a Pony Express horse and rider

13 April 1860: First Pony Express rider reaches Sacramento, California, completing a 10-day journey from St. Joseph, Missouri. This historic, rapid delivery was greeted with massive public celebration, marking a new era of faster communication (10 days vs. weeks) just prior to the Civil War. It was a record-setting, 1,800-mile journey, operating with 10-15 mile horse changes to bring news, letters, and small, expensive freight to the West Coast.