Ensuring the weekend gets off to an upbeat start with today's global bundle of positive news nuggets.
Tasty Photography
Now in its 13th edition, the Pink Lady® Food Photographer of the Year is once again proving that photography can be both artistic and appetizing. This image is OGN's favourite from the recently revealed shortlist of the 2024 competition - Walk on the mallow side by Jacki Gordon. “During the COVID pandemic lockdown, I started photographing tiny railway model figures (just three quarters of an inch high) positioned with everyday items - usually food - in order to entertain my family and friends on social media. By the time the pandemic passed, I had developed an insatiable appetite for creating these little scenes. The idea for this image came from me taking a bite out of a tea cake and being presented with its inner snow-like mallow - the perfect terrain for my tiny Nordic walkers to feel at home.”
The Liking Gap
Research from social psychologists has found that people’s self-critical thoughts after a conversation lead to a “liking gap” in which they underestimate how much their conversational partner liked them. The next time you interact with someone new, the researchers say, remember that people like you more than you think.
Castaways Rescued
It's good to know that putting up a visual SOS does occasionally succeed, as three sailors have been rescued from a tiny Pacific Ocean island after spelling out "HELP" in the sand using palm leaves after a week of being stranded. The trio were rescued by the Coast Guard after a US Navy reconnaissance aircraft spotted the cry for help. For the week they were stranded, the men lived off coconut meat and fresh water from a small well on the island.
UK Gender Pay Gap
The gender pay gap is the smallest ever recorded in Great Britain since data reporting became mandatory. Women, on average, are paid 91 pence for every one pound paid to men.
Good News For Levi's
Levi's just got a surge in stock popularity thanks to a track on Beyoncé's new album, Cowboy Carter. The track - Levi's Jeans - is a collaboration between Bey and Post Malone. Not only was the link-up between the two artists unexpected, but made Levi's stock jump by 20 percent, as acknowledged on CBS News by Levi's CEO Michelle Gass. “I would just say that denim is having a moment and the Levi’s brand is having a powerful moment around the world,” Gass said.
New Calling
An ‘overly playful’ dog who failed the police academy is now heroically rescuing people after the earthquake in Taiwan. After failing to become a drug-sniffing dog because he was “overly friendly and playful,” a labrador retriever named Roger found his new purpose: rescuing people in the aftermath of earthquakes.
Better Buildings
Buildings should be front and centre in efforts to tackle climate change. Buildings account for 40 percent of global energy demand and a third of all greenhouse gas emissions, says Anthropocene Magazine. Efforts to renovate buildings to make them more energy-efficient are slowly underway. In a new study published in Nature Communications, researchers from Switzerland take a deeper look at two common renovation strategies: changing the fossil fuel-based heating system and better building insulation. Their finding: switching to heat pumps or wood pellets, and the use of bio-based insulation materials such as straw or hemp could slash greenhouse gas emissions of buildings in Switzerland by up to 87 percent.
“Eventually you will reach a point when you stop lying about your age and start bragging about it.” Will Rogers
On This Day
13 April 1860: The first Pony Express rider reaches Sacramento, California - from Missouri.
This electric bike is geared to older riders or anyone who needs an extra boost to conquer hills. Optibike...
2,000 year old high-status cavalry officer helmet goes on display next to a sparkling silver-plated replica. Ancient and modern...
Mood Booster
Solar eclipse viewed from space aboard the ISS.