Sunny Saturday News
- Editor OGN Daily
- Jun 28
- 4 min read
Ensuring the weekend gets off to a bright start with today's global selection of upbeat news stories.
Well Placed
In Roman mythology, Neptune is the god of the sea. That's why there is no better place for a sculpture of this deity than in the actual ocean. In front of Melenara Beach, in Gran Canaria (one of Spain's Canary Islands), a statue of Neptune seems to rise above the waves. The sculpture - known locally as Neptuno saliendo del mar (“Neptune emerging from the sea”) - greets those who venture into his maritime domains, creating a powerful sight in this popular tourist destination. The piece, by late Spanish artist Luis Arencibia, was installed in 2001 and stands 13.8 feet tall. Fittingly, as the tide rises and falls, the statue standing in the sea disappears and re-emerges.
Out on a Limb
Armando López Pocol has spent 25 years reforesting Guatemala's highlands, planting up to 25,000 trees a year through the Chico Mendes Project. Despite fires and no government funding, he and his volunteers continue planting, boosting the environment and local economy through ecotourism and education. "We all just want a green planet so all future children can have a clean environment, clean water, pure oxygen and food," Pocol said to The Guardian.
Truly Unique Woman
In 2011, a French woman was undergoing routine medical testing before surgery when doctors discovered a mysterious antibody in her blood. Now, scientists say the woman is the only known carrier of a new blood type called “Gwada negative.” It’s the only blood type within a new blood group system that scientists have dubbed “PigZ,” which is now the 48th known blood group system in humans, as the French Blood Establishment (EFS) just announced. The woman, who has not been identified publicly, is from Guadeloupe, a French-controlled island group in the Caribbean. When the woman had her blood drawn nearly 15 years ago, she was 54 years old and living in Paris. At the time, doctors knew something was unusual about her blood, but they didn’t have the resources to investigate further. In 2019, researchers revisited the case. After requesting additional blood samples, they sequenced the woman’s entire genome, which contained approximately 22,000 genes. Her DNA revealed that she had a genetic mutation, which she inherited from both of her parents, that resulted in a previously unknown blood type. “She is the only person in the world who is compatible with herself,” says Thierry Peyrard, a biologist with the EFS, to the Agence France-Presse.
Biomarkers for ME/CFS
A simple diagnostic blood test could be on the way for patients dealing with myalgic encephalomyelitis, or chronic fatigue syndrome. The debilitating condition, thought to affect up to 3.3 million people in the U.S. alone, causes extreme tiredness and brain fog and can take several years to diagnose. In a breakthrough, researchers from Edinburgh University identified biomarkers for ME in blood samples, a potential first step in developing an accurate blood test for the condition.
Enormous Jigsaw
Between 43 and 150 C.E., colourful frescoes covered the interior walls of a luxurious villa in the ancient Roman town of Londinium, the precursor to modern-day London. But sometime before 200 C.E., the dwelling was destroyed. All that remained of the artwork was a pit full of smashed plaster fragments. Now, more than 1,800 years later, archaeologists have put the pieces back together. Researchers spent months carefully sorting and arranging the broken shards to bring the frescoes back to life, the Museum of London Archaeology announced this month. “It’s one of the biggest - if not the biggest - assemblages of Roman wall plaster and paintings we’ve ever found in Roman London,” Han Li, a senior building material specialist at the museum, told BBC News.
Attorney at Yore
A 27-year-old US lawyer has an unusual hobby: living as though it's the 1890s. Adelaide Beeman-White, from Oregon, "uses oil lamps to light her bedroom, mends and sews her own clothing, writes letters to friends and plays the harpsichord and banjo", said Oregon Live. She "used a typewriter from 1910 to write most of her law school essays" but swaps her Gilded Age ringlets and period frocks for modern garb when she's in court.
Gas Hookups
New York just took a major step to put gas in the past as legislators have repealed a decades-old rule incentivizing new gas connections. Previously, building owners who are within 100 feet of an existing gas main line can get a new gas hookup at no out-of-pocket expense; instead, the costs of these new connections are spread across the entire utility customer base. New Yorkers had been spending roughly $200 million per year connecting new homes and other buildings to the gas network under the “100-foot rule.”
“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under the trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the blue sky, is by no means waste of time.” John Lubbock
On This Day
28 June 1838: Coronation of Queen Victoria, aged 19, during a five-hour ceremony at Westminster Abbey, London. The day is remembered for the splendid procession from Buckingham Palace to the Abbey, with some 400,00 spectators lining the streets, having taken advantage of the new railways to come to London for the occasion.
Today's Articles
Accidental Icon: Jane Birkin's Original Hermès Birkin was born from a combination of serendipitous circumstances.
Kindness Repaid: Doctor financially rescued by his patients because, as they say, one good turn deserves another.
Mood Boosting Video
Engineering Marvel: Fascinating animation reveals Colosseum's inner workings.
