Saturday's Positive News

Editor OGN Daily
11 hours ago
3 min read

Ensuring it's a sunny Saturday with today's global round up of positive news stories.

Harry Styles running in the Berlin Marathon — Credit: Berlin Marathon

Any Guesses?

To most of the crowd lining the route of the Berlin Marathon last weekend, the runner in bib number 31,261 was just another athlete. Had observers checked the race’s website later that day, they’d have seen that the man in question was a Briton called Sted Sarandos, who’d run the 26-mile route in an impressive sub-three-hour time. 2 hours, 59 minutes and 13 seconds, to be precise. But Sarandos was an alias. It was actually Harry Styles, arguably the most famous male pop star in the world.

Medical Breakthrough

One of the cruellest and most devastating diseases - Huntington's - has been successfully treated for the first time, say doctors. An emotional research team became tearful as they described how data shows the disease was slowed by 75 percent in patients. Prof Tabrizi, director of the University College London Huntington's Disease Centre, described the results as "spectacular". This is a moment of real hope in a disease that hits people in their prime and devastates families. "We never in our wildest dreams would have expected a 75 percent slowing of clinical progression," she said.

Rob Walton with some students — Credit: Samantha Chow | Arizona State University

Conservation Philanthropy

Arizona State University received its largest-ever grant to launch a new school dedicated to preparing the next generation of conservation leaders. At Climate Week in New York City this week, Arizona State University announced its brand new school dedicated to preparing the next generation of conservation leaders - thanks to the university’s largest-ever philanthropic investment. Rob Walton, a philanthropist, conservationist, and the former chairman of Walmart, made a historic $115 million investment to establish the School of Conservation Futures, which will be named after him. The school will be “laser-focused” on conservation, because “protecting the planet’s future is protecting our future.”

The Science Guy

Bill Nye “the Science Guy” has been awarded a coveted star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, honoring his legacy as a beloved, bow-tie-wearing educator, bestselling author, and pop culture icon. "I love science. I love comedy. I love television, which was invented with science. Science is the best idea humans have ever had. I became a mechanical engineer because of it, and then entered the world of comedy too, which led me to my show that gave me the opportunity to teach so many people about the life changing world of science," he wrote on Instagram.

Going Down, Down Under

In Australia, the government has vowed to cut its emissions by 62 to 70 percent by 2035, following the advice of the Climate Change Authority, reports ABC News. The country’s emissions have already gone down by about 27 percent from the baseline year of 2005, and the government previously projected emissions to fall by 51 percent by 2035.

Kubota's hydrogen fuel cell tractor with a self-driving function — Credit: Kubota

World's First

Japanese multinational corporation Kubota has unveiled the ‘world’s first’ hydrogen fuel cell tractor with a self-driving function. The machine was presented at the World Expo 2025 in Osaka, Japan. Kubota's new tractor aims to support their decarbonization efforts and boost labor efficiency, which are well-known global challenges in agriculture. The tractor combines AI-driven autonomous driving with zero-emission hydrogen power to address labor shortages and sustainability in agriculture.

"On Saturday afternoons when all the things are done in the house and there's no real work to be done, I play Bach and Chopin and turn it up real loudly and get a good bottle of chardonnay and sit out on my deck and look out at the garden." Maya Angelou

On This Day

first televised debate between U.S. presidential candidates Nixon and Kennedy

26 September 1580: After three years, Francis Drake completes his circumnavigation of the world, sailing into Plymouth, England aboard the Golden Hind. He emerged as the first Englishman to navigate the straits of Magellan and was the first to claim California for England, believing it to be an island separate from the mainland of America. Drake’s exploration ventures paved the way for an English expansion into the New World.