Positive News Monday
What better way to start the week than with a worldwide selection of positive news nuggets?
Bears Sharing a Joke
The 2026 Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards celebrate the amusing antics of animals and this year more than 10,000 images from 112 countries were submitted to the contest. After careful consideration (and likely quite a few laughs), the judges have unveiled its finalists. This is one of them and the photographer says: "These two subadult male Brown Bears are doing some play-fighting - practice sparring that will prepare them to engage in real fights with adult males. Although their swipes at each other can look dangerous, they are actually ‘friends’ (buddies that hang out with each other). It is very rare for one to seriously injure the other. There is debate about whether the facial expressions of these bears are at all equivalent to human smiles - but I like to think that they are." OGN will be featuring some more of these entertaining images the week.
Good Quick Hits
Zero to Hero: Which country’s ratio of battery storage to power capacity outpaces the likes of California, Germany and China? It’s Bulgaria. In less than two years, Bulgaria's battery storage capacity has gone from zero to making up nearly a quarter of the country's total installed power capacity.
260K: Size, in number of soccer fields, of Norway’s new marine protected area. The country has promised robust protection of the new site.
Power Trajectory: A fresh Wood Mackenzie outlook report projects that zero-carbon power sources will supply more than 80 percent of Europe's electricity by 2030, despite rapidly increasing energy demand from data centers.
Sustainability Index: 98 percent of Finland's large hotels are now officially eco-certified (compared to a European average of 10 percent).
First Time: Wind and solar generated more electricity than gas globally for the first month ever during 2026, according to data analysed by global energy think tank Ember.
Raspberry Ripples
We’re used to seeing pictures of Mars that are very different in colour to this berry-toned view, featuring tans, ochres, reds and browns - all caused by high levels of oxidised iron. But the planet is rich in other hues, as shown beautifully in this new image of an ice cliff near the planet's south pole, captured by the European Space Agency’s Mars Express. Taken by the spacecraft’s High Resolution Stereo Camera, this image shows an icy, craggy feature known as Thyles Rupes (‘rupes’ being latin for cliff and ‘Thyles’ referring to ‘Thule’, a legendary place beyond the edge of the known world in classical geography). The general berry-purple hue of this scene is due to a mix of light, dust, and frost. The soft and rosy morning light here, combined with dust hanging in the air, a general ground cover of frost, and patches of mixed-up ice and dust scattered across the terrain, all come together to cause the striking purple tones we see.
Conservation Success
One of the first eastern lowland gorillas to be returned to the wild has given birth in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), conservationists have announced. As well as proving that gorilla rehabilitation can work, the birth has helped reinforce a small, isolated population of the critically endangered primate in Virunga National Park. The mother gorilla, Lulingu (pictured with baby), was rescued from the illegal wildlife trade at 18 months old and raised in a sanctuary. She was reintroduced to the jungle in 2024 and gave birth in May this year, it has just been revealed.
My Feed, My Way
The Australian government has announced “world-leading” reforms that will force social media platforms to allow users to opt-out of algorithms, dubbed “my feed, my way”. But you can do it yourself now. Did you know that can manually turn off your algorithm via little-known settings on Instagram? This feature - accessed simply by tapping on the Instagram logo at the top of the home screen - allows you to limit your feed to posts from only the accounts you are following, in chronological order. This is basically what social media feeds looked like when they started. Remember that?
First in USA
Metra’s diesel-engined commuter trains are familiar sights in and around Chicago, and so is the smell of spent diesel that surrounds them – but new battery-electric FLIRT locomotives will change all that before the end of 2027, and become the first battery powered trains in America. Officially dubbed the Flinker Leichter Innovativer Regional-Triebzug (FLIRT), the German-designed battery-electric locomotive promises a fast, light, and innovative rapid transit solution, replacing aging diesel locomotives and therefore expected to significantly improve air quality for the people who live, work, and travel near the rails.
Sovereign Power
The UK has avoided the need for gas imports worth £5.9 billion since the start of the Hormuz crisis, thanks to record power output from domestic wind and solar farms. That’s according to analysis from Carbon Brief, a climate reporting site. In the latest sign that renewables are helping nations boost energy security amid volatile gas prices, wind and solar provided a record 41 percent of the UK’s electricity so far this year, Carbon Brief said, compared to 25 percent for gas.
"Sometimes opportunities float right past your nose. Work hard, apply yourself, and be ready. When an opportunity comes you can grab it." Julie Andrews
On This Day
5 October 1947: Harry Truman delivers the first presidential address televised from the White House. At the time, television was still in its infancy and the number of TV sets in U.S. homes only numbered in the thousands (by the early 1950s, millions of Americans owned TVs); most people listened to the radio for news and entertainment.
Today's Articles
Romantic Rendezvous: Cary Grant's scandalous sexy secret started the chocolate on your hotel pillow tradition.
Important Milestone: America's solar-coal flip, thanks to solar becoming "the cheapest form of electricity in history."
Mood Boosting Video
Ultra Slow Motion: How eagles control 7,000 feathers to hunt. It's all about high speed control.
