Today's Good News

Saturday's round up of good news from across the globe.

• A Norwegian Greentech company has recently unveiled its new 1,000-foot (324m) tall, floating wind turbine array. Called "Wind Catcher", this innovation in renewable energy generation could be used to power as many as 80,000 homes. This new wind turbine setup could generate five times the annual energy of the world's biggest standalone wind turbines. Not only that, but if scaled, it could reduce the costs of wind energy to be competitive with traditional grid-supplied electricity.

• Once driven to near extinction by hunting and habitat loss, the California condor appears to be making an impressive recovery. Numbers dwindled to just 22 animals in the wild 40 years ago, but today their number has grown to about 500. What’s more, a new study from UC Berkeley finds that the rebounded population exhibits high genetic diversity, a promising sign for its long-term survival.

• The UK government has announced plans to increase protection of wildlife and habitats by banning fishing and other damaging activities from a handful of selected marine sites off the coast of England. The pilot scheme of at least five highly protected marine areas was welcomed by the Wildlife Trusts as a “historic” move that would allow degraded underwater habitats to recover and set a new standard for marine protection.

• Western Michigan University has announced that it has landed the largest private gift ever to a public university: $550 million. Often, major donations help the richest colleges and universities get richer. That's not the case in this instance.

• Australian researchers have developed a microscope that can image tiny biological structures that were previously not visible in what has been described as a significant step for quantum technology. It is believed to be the first time that quantum technology has improved on existing light microscopes, which in future may lead to improvements in medical imaging and navigation systems.

• The US Environmental Protection Agency is to reverse Trump's sweeping Clean Water Act rollback which removed federal pollution oversight from tributaries of iconic waterways and broad swaths of the arid West. In good news for the environment, the EPA is to craft its own, more expansive definition of waterways subject to federal water protections.

• San Francisco may have become the first major American city to hit herd immunity to the coronavirus, experts say. San Francisco is still recording a small number of coronavirus cases, about 13.7 per day, said Dr George Rutherford, professor of epidemiology at University of California San Francisco, but they don’t appear to be gaining enough of a foothold in the population to trigger wider outbreaks.

• At OGN Towers we're always on the lookout for simple everday ideas to help the envionment and recently discovered Evergreen stainless steel coffee capsules. More than 50 billion single-use plastic capsules are thrown away each year, whilst Evergreen's reusable capsules last forever, the coffee tastes even better, and it's way cheaper than before. What's not to like?

• Venture into a record shop today and you could pick up a debut album by a promising 19-year-old singer-songwriter. His name is Elton John. After half a century of hits, the star has issued a surprise release of his ‘lost’ first record, Regimental Sgt Zippo. The star’s first collection of songs, recorded in 1968, failed to impress record executives who called him 'hopeless'.

• Tesla has finally unveiled its long-awaited reboot of the Model S, showing off a 1,020-horsepower “Plaid” model capable of accelerating from 0 to 60mph in about two seconds. In a launch event at Tesla’s headquarters in Fremont, California, chief executive Elon Musk hailed the new electric vehicle as “like a drive in the future”, saying that deliveries would begin immediately. Promised since 2019, the Model S Plaid has an estimated range of 390 miles, a claimed top speed of 200mph (“with the right tyres”), and will cost $130,000 in the US.

• Don't miss the OGN Sunday Magazine tomorrow, featuring a carefully curated selection of upbeat articles.

Dive in Deeper

• Artist creates forest waves: Extraordinary creations rose up in a forest near Hamburg, Germany. [1 min] Mystical...

• Keystone XL: $9bn oil pipeline that's become a symbol of the rising political clout of climate advocates was officially cancelled last week. [1 min] Finally...

• Superyacht with solar sails: Norwegian designer has revealed a 160m superyacht concept and it's a beauty! Better yet, it comes with some advanced futuristic sailing technology - that doesn't even need wind. [2 mins] Florida...

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