Ensuring the week gets off to a sunny start with today's global round up of positive news nuggets.
Rare Find
A bronze sword more than 3,000 years old, which is so well-preserved that it “almost still shines”, has been unearthed in southern Germany. The Bavarian state office for the preservation of historical monuments said the sword, which is believed to date back to the end of the 14th century BC - the middle of the bronze age - was found during excavations last week in Nördlingen, between Nuremberg and Stuttgart.
Avoiding Bad News
A global study has found that the number of people taking a strong interest in the news has dropped by around a quarter in the last six years. Some 48 percent of people around the world are very or extremely interested in the news - down from 63 percent in 2017. In the UK, the proportion is lower than the global average at 43 percent, found researchers from Oxford University’s Reuters Institute. The authors of the report said they found that audiences “cut back on depressing news and look to protect their mental health”. That comes as no surprise to OGN Daily, so please spread the good news by telling friends and family about us.
Long Covid Cure?
Long Covid could be prevented with a pill commonly used to treat type 2 diabetes, researchers believe. In trials involving overweight Covid-infected participants, scientists at University of Minnesota discovered that metformin - usually used to control blood sugar levels - cut the risk of long Covid by 41 percent. However, more work is needed to see if it could be used to treat existing cases, and whether it is effective in patients who are not overweight. “Metformin is safe and widely available at low cost,” the study published in The Lancet concluded.
Patent Crown
It might not be as cool as Apple or as talked-about as Tesla, but for nearly three decades, one company has been synonymous with American innovation: IBM. That isn’t an opinion. From 1993 to 2021, no other company received more US patents than the New York based tech giant. But in 2022, Samsung surpassed it, winning 6,248 patents. IBM, which placed second, received 4,398, according a ranking compiled by patent data platform IFI. Both of those figures pale in comparison with the numbers posted by IBM in previous years. In 2021, the company received 8,681 US patents, nearly twice as many as in 2022 - almost 24 per day!
Avatar Sequels
Disney has announced the release dates for its next three Avatar movies. Each will hit screens in December, just before Christmas. “Avatar 3” will be released in 2025; “Avatar 4” in 2029, and “Avatar 5” 2031. Based on this timeline, the final “Avatar” movie is coming 22 years after the original 2009 blockbuster.
Green Subsidies
Germany has announced a plan to provide up to €50 billion ($54bn) in subsidies over the next 15 years for energy-intensive industries to lower emissions, reports Bloomberg. The plan includes support for the coal-intensive steel industry, which accounts for about 30 percent of industrial greenhouse gas emissions, to transition to green steel.
"I keep my ideals, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart." Anne Frank
On this Day
19 June 1846: Alexander Joy Cartwright arranged a baseball game between the New York Knickerbockers and the New York Nine at Hoboken, New Jersey - the first baseball game to use the set of rules on which today's game is based.
3,000 year old hand-sewn shipwreck is about to be pulled from the deep off the coast of Croatia. Unique...
The story behind the diminutive Ashes urn that Australia and England compete for in Test match cricket. 1882...
Best Healthy Foods to Eat in Midlife: Here's what to eat to help slow the dreaded middle-aged spread. Find out...
Mood Booster
With the latest iteration of the Mission Impossible franchise hitting the big screens on 12 July, here's the final trailer to whet our appetites.
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