Just Good News Monday
- Editor OGN Daily
- Jun 23
- 4 min read
Ensuring the week gets off to a bright start with today's global round up of positive news nuggets.
Win For England's Rivers
A people-powered campaign to halt a poultry megafarm that could leach toxic waste and threaten the River Severn - Britain’s longest river - has triumphed in the high court, a move described as a “win for cleaner rivers”. A judge has revoked planning permission for the megafarm, claiming the original approval did not take into account the wider impact it would have on the environment. River Action said the ruling “marks a turning point for polluting factory farming in the UK”. Adding: “It’s a big win for our rivers. The reckless spread of intensive agriculture ends now.”
'Breathprint'
Researchers have found that we all have a unique 'breathprint', tied not only to our body mass index, but also to patterns of anxiety, depression and autism. For example, those scoring high on depressive traits tended to exhale very swiftly. These unexpected findings could point to a positive future for non-invasive mental health screening, according to a paper published in the journal Current Biology.
Nature’s Xanax: Try 4-7-8 breathing. This simple technique is a quick, easy way to calm your nerves and soothe your mind.
Footprints Age Confirmed
The 2009 discovery of footprints (human and animal) left behind in layers of clay and silt at New Mexico’s White Sands National Park sparked a contentious debate about when, exactly, human cultures first developed in North America. Until about a decade ago, it seemed as if the first Americans arrived near the end of the last Ice Age and were part of the Clovis culture, named for the distinctive projectile points they left behind near what’s now Clovis, New Mexico. But various dating methods indicated the White Sands footprints are 10,000 years older. Now there is a fresh independent analysis that agrees with those earlier findings, according to a new paper published in the journal Science Advances. Results are consistent with two earlier studies dating the footprints to between 22,000 and 24,000 years ago.
Egypt Hits Target
Egypt has hit the WHO's target for controlling hepatitis B in children under five - the first country in the Eastern Mediterranean to do so. Hepatitis B used to be a persistent threat, but a birth-dose vaccination policy, universal screening, and a drive to reach undocumented children has helped bring prevalence below 2 percent.
Tutankahmun Moving Home: Shortly, the boy pharaoh's elaborately decorated gold funerary mask will be transferred to the brand new $1 billion Grand Egyptian Museum.
US Solar
In the first quarter of 2025, the United States added 8.6 GW of solar manufacturing capacity, led by factories in Texas, Ohio, and Arizona. Politics be damned, of the top ten states with the most solar installations this quarter, eight were won by Trump in 2024: Texas, Florida, Ohio, Indiana, Arizona, Wisconsin, Idaho, and Pennsylvania, reports Wood Mackenzie. But lest you think US liberals have been tying themselves up too much in red (blue?) tape, take a look at how things have changed in California. Two years ago fossil gas generated 93 percent more power than solar; this year, solar's output has been 32 percent higher than fossil gas. 57 percent of all demand so far in 2025 has been met with wind, water, and sunshine. Full steam ahead!
Collision Avoidance
Your hound may think he’s protecting you by chasing away any birds that dare venture into your backyard - but (no offense to him) these two canines are actually keeping people safe while performing the same task. Border collies Hercules and Ned operate at the West Virginia International Yeager Airport in Charleston. Their primary objective? To chase away animals that could collide with aircraft.
China's Massive Retrofit
Steel is China’s dirtiest industry, responsible for roughly 15 percent of national CO2 emissions. But that’s changing, fast. Over 300 of China's roughly 500 steel plants are undergoing a government-mandated retrofit to meet “ultra-low emissions” standards by the end of 2025. Facilities must now slash particulate matter, sulphur dioxide, and carbon output, replacing outdated blast furnaces, capturing exhaust heat, and integrating real-time monitoring. If completed on schedule, it will be the largest decarbonisation of heavy industry anywhere in the world.
“The heart is not like a box that gets filled up; it expands in size the more you love.” Spike Jonze
On This Day
23 June 1960: First contraceptive pill, developed by Carl Djerassi, is made available for purchase in the United States. Djerassi fled Nazi-occupied Austria as a teenager, arriving in the US in 1939 with little money. He wrote to Eleanor Roosevelt for help with his education and went on to study chemistry.
Today's Articles
Own Less, Have More: New app connects people who have things they use rarely with those who want to borrow or rent them.
Impossible to Ignore: 89 percent of people worldwide want governments to take stronger action on climate change. This project aims to make politicians realise it and pull their fingers out.
Power of Kindness: We know kindness is good for mental health, but did you know it's also good for physical health?
Mood Boosting Video
Flying Together: Amazing flights with birds filmed from a microlight.
