Good News Tuesday

Editor OGN Daily
16 minutes ago
4 min read

Some tasty bite-sized chunks of positive news to perk up the day.

Moon Mission

The first crewed Moon mission in more than 50 years could be launched by NASA as soon as the first week of February. It will not put anybody on the Moon, but this Artemis II mission aims to set the stage for an eventual human landing on the lunar surface for the first time since the Apollo missions of the 1960s and 70s. NASA says the launch of Artemis III, which will endeavour to put astronauts on the lunar surface, will take place "no earlier than" 2027. However, experts believe 2028 is the earliest possible date. When Artemis III finally flies, the astronauts will be heading to the Moon's south pole. After this, the aim is to have a sustained human presence on the Moon. Artemis IV and V will begin building Gateway, a small space station circling the Moon. After that, there will be more Moon landings and extra sections added to Gateway. More countries will be involved in keeping people living and working on and around the Moon for longer periods.

What Time is it on The Moon? Metrologists worldwide are working to answer that question.

Zobop

Art doesn’t have to be contained inside gallery frames - it can spread across entire rooms. Glasgow-based artist Jim Lambie transforms everyday architectural spaces into immersive, energetic installations with vibrant vinyl tape in geometric patterns. His work, titled Zobop (Colour-Chrome), turns Vancouver Art Gallery’s grand, neoclassical rotunda into a psychedelic space pulsating with colour. Lambie’s made-up word “Zobop” is a playful homage to Jazz Bebop and the entire installation took several weeks to install, and each strip of industrial vinyl tape was applied by hand. Lambie followed the contours of the architecture, creating lines of vibrant color that almost appear to spill like liquid paint.

60,000 year old arrow heads with poison residue — Credit: Marlize Lombard

Cause And Effect

Archaeologists just discovered the oldest known evidence of poison arrows, which hunters in South Africa used to slow down their prey 60,000 years ago. The revelation - published in the journal Science Advances - pushes the innovation’s timeline tens of thousands of years earlier than was previously known, and it reinforces the idea that early Homo sapiens had the capacity for complex strategic planning. “Understanding that a substance applied to an arrow will weaken an animal hours later requires cause-and-effect thinking and the ability to anticipate delayed results,” lead author Sven Isaksson, an archaeologist at Stockholm University, told CNN. “The evidence points to prehistoric humans having advanced cognitive abilities, complex cultural knowledge and well-developed hunting practices.” Chemical and molecular analyses of the poison residue suggest it came from a plant called Boophone disticha, also known as Bushman’s poison bulb.

Orangutan climbing a leafy tree — Back in the wild | Orangutan Project

Jungle School

A female orangutan that was captured as a juvenile has been released back into the wild in Borneo after four years of rehabilitation. She was, happily, found and rescued by the Borneo Orangutan Rescue Alliance and transferred to a rehabilitation center. Aptly-named the “Jungle School,” the facility provides a vital refuge to poached orangutans. “Our team is confident that she will thrive in her new home, and settle into her wild life with ease. Her forest skills are excellent, and have only grown stronger during her time on the pre-release island. There’s even a good chance she may cross paths with some of her old Jungle School friends... who were also recently released into the same area.”

aerial view of the Gordie Howe International Bridge — Credit: Gordon Howie International Bridge

New US/Canada Link

20 years in the making, the Gordie Howe International Bridge is set to open in the very near future, providing the first new link between the US and Canada in many years. The bridge, linking the cities of Windsor, Ontario, with Detroit, will also be one of the few river crossing points that are also open to cyclists and pedestrians. “People didn’t want us to lose a unique opportunity to design a new international crossing without considering the incorporation of a multiuse path for pedestrians and cyclists,” said a spokesperson. The $4 billion bridge was financed by Canada, which will also therefore reap the toll revenue.

golden ring decorated with a gemstone and filigree décor - and is over 800 years old. — Credit: Johanne Torheim | NIKU

Medieval Ring

An archaeologist has unearthed a rare artifact while excavating in a Norwegian town believed to be the oldest in the country. The gorgeous golden ring is decorated with a gemstone and filigree décor - and is over 800 years old. Scientists are still investigating if the ring’s center stone is a sapphire or colored glass. “The ring is quite little in size, and is a ring worn by a woman of high social status. Rings of this type [are] not at all common, so it is natural to assume it had to be a person of some wealth that owned it.” The ring’s discovery is important because it sheds major light on early Tønsberg’s social structure.

Drought-Free

California is completely drought-free for the first time in a quarter of a century, a significant development in a state that endured grueling years with insufficient rainfall. A map published by the US Drought Monitor shows that no part of the state is experiencing drought or abnormal dryness. The development came after weeks of above-normal rainfall that helped fill reservoirs in the state far beyond their historic averages.

“Happy is the person who knows what to remember of the past, what to enjoy in the present, and what to plan for in the future.” Arnold Glasgow

On This Day

the album cover for 'Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison'

13 January 1968: American singer and songwriter Johnny Cash recorded the album Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison in front of an audience of some 2,000 inmates at California's Folsom Prison. Cash was backed by his band, The Tennessee Three, along with June Carter and Carl Perkins. The album was a massive success, becoming his first No. 1 country album and leading to more prison concerts (like At San Quentin) and his own TV show.