OGN Saturday

Editor OGN Daily
Sep 3, 2022
3 min read

Updated: Sep 27, 2022

What better way to start the weekend than with some good news nuggets?

Reclamation

Coal mining left a legacy of destroyed habitats and polluted waters down in Alabama, but thanks to the state’s Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation program, a wildlife refuge is bringing back spectacular natural beauty - and thousands of tourists clamoring for photographs of a rare white lily. Whilst conservationists have done a remarkable job cleaning up and restoring the Cahaba River to its former glory, it’s the white Cahaba lily (or shoals spider-lily) that draws crowds of swooning nature lovers, now that both land and water have been revitalised.

Private Jets

With the temperature around the world rising (both literally and figuratively) about the use of private jets, restrictions on the use of PJs in France may be on the horizon after Transport Minister Clément Beaune floated the idea of further regulations on the European level. “Certain types of behaviour are no longer acceptable,” Beaune told Le Parisien. While an outright ban is not on the cards, Beaune said potential measures could include increased taxation or bans for flights to destinations well-served by railways. Beaune said acting on the European level would be more impactful and plans to push for further action at a meeting of EU transport ministers in October.

Coral Spawning

Researchers have achieved out-of-season coral spawning for the first time in Australia. The natural phenomenon occurs twice a year on the Great Barrier Reef, usually between October and December. But under controlled conditions in a Townsville lab, coral have reproduced in the middle of winter. Australian Institute of Marine Science senior aquarist Lonidas Koukoumaftsis said the breakthrough was two years in the making. It gives more optimism about regenerating and introducing more corals to the reef.

Beamish

Bright, cheerful, and optimistic. Most optimists have a beamish quality about them.

White Truffles

Normally sniffed out by trained dogs, they emit intense aromas of garlic and fermented cheese, and are so rare that they can fetch up to £9,000 ($10,450) a kilogram. Now, the puzzle that has confounded experts for more than half a century, of how to cultivate the elusive white truffle on a commercial scale, appears to have been solved. Scientists from France’s National Research Institute for Agriculture have revealed that they have cultivated 26 white truffles. While more than 90 percent of black, highly prized Périgord truffles sold are cultivated, previous attempts to farm their rarer white cousins have failed.

Mega Merger

Astronomers are getting wildly excited. They believe we may be on the verge of witnessing one of the most highly anticipated events in modern astronomy. Fluctuations in light readings from the center of galaxy SDSS J1430+2303 suggest that a pair of supermassive black holes with a combined mass of approximately 200 million Suns are headed towards each other for a massive collision event, a Science Alert report reveals. The astronomers believe their data indicates the black holes will merge within the next three years - a minute timescale when it comes to astronomical observations.