Positive News Tuesday

Editor OGN Daily
Jun 10
4 min read

Some bite-sized chunks of positive news to perk up the day.

A stretch of the Klamath River — Klamath River | Perter Marbach / Western Rivers Conservancy

Land Restitution

In California’s largest land-back conservation deal to date, the Yurok Tribe is getting some of its home back. Namely, 47,097 acres of forested land around the Klamath River (an area roughly three times the size of Manhattan). The historic move comes more than 150 years after Indigenous people were displaced during the Gold Rush and had 90 percent of their territory stolen. The site, previously owned and managed by timber companies, is now called the Blue Creek Salmon Sanctuary and Yurok Tribal Community Forest. With regained ownership, the tribe plans to heal the land and one of its goals is to establish a “new salmon sanctuary,” which is aptly timed given that the Klamath River was recently the site of the largest dam removal in U.S. history.

Europe Removes Record Number of River Barriers: Hundreds of dams, weirs, culverts and sluices dismantled in 2024 to help waterways resume natural course.

A fill moon in a cloudless sky — Credit: Benjamin Shaw | CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Strawberry Moon

Summer will officially begin with this year's solstice on June 20. And on Wednesday, June 11, comes a "strawberry moon," the last full moon of the Northern Hemisphere's spring - and the lowest full moon in 18 years. It will be at its brightest at 3:44 a.m. Eastern time in the United States. Its name, however, isn't related to the moon's colour. The Old Farmer’s Almanac, which has charted everything from celestial bodies to the best time to plant vegetables since 1792, popularized useful nicknames for every month's full moon. According to the almanac, the name strawberry moon has been used by Native peoples, such as the Algonquian, Ojibwe, Dakota and Lakota, to mark the harvest time of “June-bearing” strawberries. "Mead moon" or "honey moon" are old European nicknames for June's full moon, according to National Geographic, and may have similarly been inspired by honey harvesting.

Conservation Success

In a conservation “success story,” the number of lynx in the Iberian Peninsula increased by 19 percent last year to over 2,400 total. Iberian lynx conservation projects have been running for over 20 years, helping increase the total number of animals from less than 100 in 2002 to more than 2,000 today and leading the species to no longer be classified as “at risk”.

Menopause Diet

Switching from a diet including meat to a low-fat vegan diet reduced severe hot flashes in menopausal women by a staggering 92 percent. A new joint American-Canadian study has found that eating a low-fat vegan diet, specifically one supplemented with soybeans, can reduce body weight and the hot flashes associated with menopause. “This study highlights the potential positive effects of a plant-based diet rich in soy (regardless of the level of processing) in terms of both hot flash and weight management,” said Dr Stephanie Faubion, who is the medical director for The Menopause Society. “Given these and the other known benefits in terms of lowering heart disease and cancer risk, women in midlife should consider leaning into a plant-based diet.”

Angus Collins in his handmade specialty rowing boat — Angus Collins | SWNS

9th Time Lucky?

A man is hoping to become the first person to row solo around Great Britain - covering 2,000 miles in just 60 days in his handmade specialty boat. Angus Collins will have to battle whirlpools, North Sea wave patterns, and shipping lanes when he attempts his record-setting feat later this month. A holder of five world records in ocean rowing, Angus believes his latest challenge will be his toughest yet, due to the UK’s unpredictable weather patterns. “Many say it’s impossible. I know that isn’t the case.” It’s been attempted eight times now but no one has succeeded, according to the 35-year-old.

eCTOL Lands at JFK

After flying the first production ALIA CX300 electric aircraft last November, BETA Technologies has now zipped four passengers into the John F. Kennedy International Airport, marking a key development milestone. It's part of The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey endeavours to significantly cut its carbon footprint. The ALIA CX300 used for this demonstration is essentially a conventional take-off and landing (CTOL) version of BETA's electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft that has been in development for the last 6 years.

“Within you there is a stillness and a sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time.” Hermann Hesse

On This Day

10 June 1770: British explorer Captain James Cook is the first European to discover the Great Barrier Reef off Australia - by running aground on its coral causing the ship to leak (ship later beached and repaired)