Upbeat News Thursday

Editor OGN Daily
Jun 12
4 min read

Today's tasty smorgasbord of uplifting news stories from around the world.

Merryl Hoffman (centre) posing with the two nurses who saved her life — The chance reunion

Right Place, Right Time

Last year, Merryl Hoffman (centre in the photo) was on her way to work when she went into sudden cardiac arrest and collapsed outside a health care center near her subway stop. Moments later, two nurses, who happened to be exactly where they were needed most, stepped in to save the 63-year-old’s life. “It was out of a movie,” said Gianna Formisano, one of the nurses. "Without them, I was told, there was no doubt I would have died or been brain dead," Hoffman told CBS News. "They absolutely saved my life." The trio later went to dinner together - and even recently ran into each other again in the same spot, but thankfully, under much different circumstances.

world's highest single-arch railway bridge spanning the Chenab river — Credit: Indian PM's social media

Engineering Marvel

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the world's highest single-arch railway bridge in Indian-administered Kashmir. The term "single-arch bridge" typically refers to a bridge with a single, continuous arch spanning between two supports. The bridge will connect the valley region of Kashmir with the rest of the country by train for the very first time. The showpiece infrastructure project, which is built over the Chenab river, is 35m (114ft) taller than the Eiffel Tower and took the Indian Railways more the 20 years to build. It is part of a 272km (169 miles) all-weather railway line that will pass through Jammu, ultimately going all the way to the Kashmir valley.

Arsia Mons just before dawn, rising out of a sea of clouds — Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU

Giant Ancient Volcano

NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft, which has been orbiting the Red Planet for over two decades, has captured a spectacular landscape image of a giant ancient volcano called Arsia Mons just before dawn - the striking landform rises out of a sea of clouds just below the planet's pale green atmosphere. The image is the first of any of the three volcanoes that make up Mars' Tharsis Mountains (also known as Tharsis Montes). Measuring a whopping 12 miles high - about twice as tall as Earth's largest volcano, Mauna Loa - Arsia Mons is one of Mars' biggest volcanoes. As if that wasn't impressive enough, the Tharsis region as a whole hosts some of the biggest volcanic structures of our Solar System, says BBC's Sky at Night Magazine.

Where to Stand on Earth to be Closest to The Stars: Most people's immediate reaction to that question would be: the top of Mount Everest. But that would not be correct.

Canada to Join EU?

German politician Joachim Streit has launched a one-man campaign that he readily describes as “aspirational”: to have Canada country join the EU. “We have to strengthen the European Union,” said Streit, who last year was elected as a member of the European parliament. “And I think Canada – as its prime minister says – is the most European country outside of Europe.” What he saw was a relatively unexplored relationship, one that could prove mutually beneficial as the world grapples with rapidly reshaping global dynamics. “Canadians have seen their trust in the US undermined, just as we have in Europe, following President Trump’s actions,” he said. “We need to strengthen the ties that bind us to our friends.”

High Seas Treaty

At the United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice, France, 18 new countries ratified the High Seas Treaty for a total of 49 - just 11 shy of the 60 needed for the agreement to be enforced. The swell of support added momentum to what could end up being a historic sea change in how the open ocean is governed. “The entry into force is within our sight, and I call on all remaining nations to join swiftly,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said. Director of the High Seas Alliance Rebecca Hubbard called the ratifications a “powerful victory” for the people who have pushed for high seas protections to take centre stage on the world’s environmental agenda, reported Euronews.

“It Felt Like Magic”

Patients suffering from blood clots may soon benefit from a new treatment approach that could be twice as effective as current techniques - and could pave a path for better outcomes in the case of strokes, heart attacks, and other clot-related disorders. “It’s unbelievable,” said Jeremy Heit, co-author of a study on the novel technique, called milli-spinner thrombectomy. “This is a sea-change technology that will drastically improve our ability to help people.” Using their new method, researchers at Stanford found that the approach not only doubled the efficacy of current methods, but also removed 90 percent of the “toughest clots” on the first attempt, compared to about 11 percent with current devices. “Honestly, it felt like magic,” said senior author Renee Zhao.

"I am careful not to confuse excellence with perfection. Excellence, I can reach for; perfection is God's business." Michael J. Fox

On This Day

President Ronald Reagan at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin

12 June 1987: Speaking about the Berlin Wall as he stood at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, U.S. President Ronald Reagan famously entreated the Soviet leader, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”