Good News Worth Celebrating
- Editor OGN Daily
- Apr 27
- 5 min read
A Sunday summary of all of last week's top good news stories.
Health & Wellbeing
'Game-Changer': A “pioneering” new way of treating heart failure has cut deaths by nearly two-thirds, bringing hope to those affected by the deadly condition. The approach, which involves giving patients a stronger dose of drugs early on rather than gradually, was shown to reduce deaths by 62 percent in a global trial.
2025 Earth Prize Winners: A trio of teenage inventors in India, seeking to improve rural healthcare, have created a portable fridge that needs no electricity or coolant fluids. The result of their endeavours is a small, salt-cooled fridge that cools down passively as the salts dissolve in water - without needing a power outlet or a battery.
Protecting Children: Most schools in England have outlawed mobile phones, according to the first national survey on the subject - amid mounting evidence linking early years phone use with mental health problems.
Healthy School Diet: Spain has just brought in new rules to make school dinners healthier. The legislation obliges all schools to serve nutritious meals that are rich in fruit, vegetables, wholegrains, and fish, but low in processed foods. Sugary drinks are banned.
Progress in Indonesia: According to new data compiled by Our World In Data, the number of people living in extreme poverty fell from 75 percent of the population to less than 2 percent between 1984 and 2023.
Paris Halves Pollution: Cars have been banned from more than 100 streets. Tens of thousands of parking spots have been eliminated. Hundreds of miles of bike lanes have been added. And air pollution is plummeting. In fact, a new report reveals that air pollution in Paris is down 50 percent compared to 2005.
Regenerative Medicine: Japan is shortly to be the first country to approve a treatment that uses iPS cells; cells that can be “reprogrammed” to do anything from cure blindness to treat Parkinson’s disease. Because they are taken from the patient requiring treatment, a transplant can be done with them without the need for drugs that prevent the immune system from rejecting the tissue, reports Nature.
Digital Dementia Hypothesis: Researchers have found that frequent use of digital technology might help stave off cognitive decline in older adults. Researchers found that consistent use of technology was associated with a 42 percent lower risk of mild cognitive impairment or dementia. The study results challenge the “digital dementia” hypothesis, which suggests reliance on tech can weaken cognitive abilities in the long run.
Fuel Warning Labels: Subject to a vote next week, Colorado may become first in the nation to require retailers to warn consumers that burning fossil fuels “releases air pollutants and greenhouse gases, known by the state of Colorado to be linked to significant health impacts and global heating.” Proponents compare the stickers to warnings labels on cigarettes that scientific evidence found motivated consumers to reconsider the health impacts of smoking.
Wildlife & Conservation
Good Plot-Twist: Helicopters from the Vietnam war are airlifting rhinos to safety. In the best kind of plot-twist - using a war machine to save lives, Hueys are revolutionising rhino translocation across Africa; a conservation measure designed to create new populations and ensure genetic diversity, reports the BBC. The use of helicopters decreases the health risks associated with crate travel and long transportations due to lack of roads.
Marine Protection: The Eastern Tropical Pacific Marine Corridor is now bigger and better, thanks to international cooperation. Started in 2004 to strengthen connectivity across five marine protected areas in Ecuador, Costa Rica, Colombia, and Panama, today it has expanded to include 10 MPAs, protecting 2 million square kilometres of ocean. Shaped by powerful currents, it’s one of the world’s most ecologically significant marine regions.
Extinct in The Wild: Three Wild Socorro chicks extinct in the wild have hatched at London Zoo, as part of an international breeding programme. The zoo aims to boost numbers of the doves so that they can eventually be reintroduced to their native habitat on Socorro Island, off the coast of Mexico. Gary Ward, London Zoo's curator of birds, said it was a "big step forward in our role to bring this species back from the brink of extinction".
'Young Lion Resting': Rembrandt's sketch of a lion (c. 1640) is to be sold to help fund wildlife conservation.
Cautiously Optimistic: A colourful bird that’s been extinct in the wild for nearly 40 years has been introduced on a new island in the Pacific Ocean - and the population has even started laying eggs. With help from conservationists, the Guam kingfisher seems to be settling in on the remote Palmyra Atoll, located halfway between Hawaii and American Samoa. Biologists are cautiously optimistic about the species’ future.
Judge Helps Manatees: In good news for manatees, a federal judge has ruled that Florida’s wastewater discharge regulations violated the Endangered Species Act and has instructed the state to develop a plan to address the pollution. This precedent helps make sure that would-be polluters know there will be consequences for it and puts the responsibility for cleaning up the mess where it belongs: on the original perpetrator.
Sustainable Energy
No Longer a Laggard: Long accused of being a laggard on sustainable energy, in the past four years India has suddenly leapt ahead. So much so that India has overtaken Germany to become the world's third-largest generator of wind and solar electricity.
Remarkable Progress: Kenya's has raised electricity access from 37 percent to 79 percent between 2013 and 2023, reports Energy Monitor. One in five Kenyan households now uses off-grid solar systems, and renewable sources including geothermal, hydro, wind, and solar generate 90 percent of Kenya's electricity, positioning the nation to achieve universal access by 2030 - and a leader in renewable energy.
Solar Efficiency Record: A Chinese solar technology company has achieved a significant breakthrough in solar cell R&D, achieving a conversion efficiency of 34.85%. The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) confirmed the efficiency. The average efficiency of household solar panels today generally ranges from 15% to 22%, so it's a spectacular efficiency increase.
And Finally...
Social Tipping Point: A whopping 89 percent of people globally want stronger action on the climate crisis, but feel trapped in a “spiral of silence” because of the mistaken belief they are in the minority, according to research. Experts say making people with pro-climate viewpoints aware that they are in the majority could unleash a social tipping point that could drive leaders to take necessary climate action. “One of the most powerful forms of climate communication is just telling people that a majority of other people think climate change is happening, human-caused, a serious problem and a priority for action,” said Anthony Leiserowitz, a professor of climate communication at Yale School of the Environment. The data was the result of a worldwide survey of 130,000 people from 125 nations that found 89 percent believe their country’s government “should do more to fight global warming.”
That's it, you are up to date.
Today's Articles
Positive Change: The winners of this year's Goldman Environmental Prizes are ordinary people who took extraordinary actions to protect our planet.
Made in America: New customizable $20,000 EV has just launched in the US. No frills, unless you want them.
Four Bizarre Stories: As it's the London Marathon today, let's take a look at the entertaining stories of four of last year's runners.
