Good News Friday

Editor OGN Daily
22 hours ago
3 min read

Celebrating the end of the week with a global round up of positive news stories.

Vatican City at night — Vatican City seen from the Tiber

Exclusive Club

Vatican City has joined the 100 percent renewables club. The Vatican has become the world’s latest state to be powered entirely by renewables, with solar installations now supplying all electricity (thanks, Pope Francis!). It joins a growing group that includes Iceland, Bhutan, and Ethiopia.

Need a Nature Fix?

It's not as good as actually getting out there but you can spend 60 seconds in a beautiful park somewhere in the world whenever you feel like it with oneminutepark.tv

Two anthropomorphic sculptures of human appearance that "represent an ancestral couple" | Guatemalan Ministry of Culture

Mayan City Discovered

Archaeologists have unearthed the remains of a Mayan city nearly 3,000 years old in northern Guatemala, with pyramids and monuments that point to its significance as an important ceremonial site. The Mayan civilization arose around 2000BC, reaching its height between AD400 and 900 in what is present-day southern Mexico and Guatemala, as well as parts of Belize, El Salvador and Honduras. The city named Los Abuelos, Spanish for “The Grandparents”, once stood some 21km (13 miles) from the important archaeological site of Uaxactun, in Guatemala’s northern Petén department, the country’s culture ministry announced.

Soaring Solar

China added 105 GW of solar in the first four months of the year - more in 120 days, than the total installed capacity to date of nearly every other country on Earth. Meanwhile, India added more renewable capacity in the past year than coal, gas, and nuclear combined, with solar alone accounting for 70 percent of all new electricity generation.

Mini park in New York being enjoyed by residents — Mini park

Pocket Parks

Research continually shows that proximity to more trees and green space - no matter how small the area - has multiple benefits, so it's good news for New Yorkers as the city just announced plans to transform underutilized and abandoned lots into parks, playgrounds, and green space, particularly in neighborhoods lacking access to these kinds of spaces. The city’s Parks Department has already submitted applications for 44 locations in two districts in Brooklyn and Queens. Under the plan, the department would also receive city-owned vacant lots from other agencies at no cost. The effort is part of a larger plan to improve and expand access to public green space across the city, ensuring that it’s no more than a short walk away for everyone, no matter where they live.

World’s Smallest Official City Park: It's in Oregon and is the size of a small suitcase or, to be exact, 3.13 square feet.

1904

That was the last year in which scientists observed a species of cottontail rabbit native to Mexico, before it was just rediscovered and taken off the extinction list.

Antimatter Matters

CERN is preparing to ship antimatter - yes, actual antimatter. Until now, antimatter research has been confined to a few labs, and its transport was considered impossible. That’s about to change, says Ars Technica. The European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN, is preparing to ship tiny quantities of antihydrogen to research institutes across Europe. Why does this matter? Antimatter is central to some of physics’ biggest unsolved questions - like why the universe exists at all. Sharing it could democratise access to fundamental experiments, and increase our understanding of the asymmetry between matter and antimatter that created the cosmos.

“Happiness is not made by what we own. It is what we share.” Jonathan Sacks

On This Day

Chicago's elevated Loop train line in 1895

6 June 1892: Chicago's elevated Loop train line (commonly known as the “L”) began operating, and it became one of the longest and busiest mass transit systems in the United States.