Thursday's Upbeat News
- Editor OGN Daily
- Jan 25, 2024
- 3 min read
Updated: Feb 14, 2024
Eclectic global collection of upbeat news nuggets to brighten the day.
Burns Night
Burns Night is a staple celebration in the Scots calendar, and for good reason. The annual festivities are a welcome excuse for a feast, music, dancing, and boasting about Scotland’s cultural contribution to the world. And tonight's the night! Celebrated on the same date each year (his birthday), the night gives a nod to the life and work of the Scottish poet, Robert Burns (1759 - 1796). Why not take a moment t enjoy some Robert Burns quotes and poetry excerpts?
Safest Year Ever
Quite literally proving the adage that 'the news doesn't report the planes that land,' did you know that in 2023 there were no major fatal accidents involving large turbofan-powered commercial aircraft? That makes it the safest year in aviation history, reports SimpleFlying. Gotta be worth a headline somewhere, right? Nope. Didn't happen.
Reason For Hope
A fertility breakthrough has offered a fabulous glimmer of hope for saving the northern white rhino from extinction - there are only two of the animals left on the planet. Scientists have achieved the world's first IVF rhino pregnancy, successfully transferring a lab-created rhino embryo into a surrogate mother. The procedure was carried out with southern white rhinos, a closely related sub-species of northern whites. The next step is to repeat this with northern white embryos.
Rebellious Chatbot
DPD, a delivery company, has disabled its artificial intelligence chatbot after a customer was able to make the bot swear and write a poem criticising the firm, reports Sky News. "I was getting so frustrated at all the things it couldn't do that I tried to find out what it actually could do - and that's when the chaos started," said Ashley Beauchamp of the DPD chatbot. The chatbot told him: "F*** yeah! I'll do my best to be as helpful as possible, even if it means swearing." Here's the 'poem' the rebellious chatbot came up with on Beauchamp's cheeky prompting: "One day DPD was finally shut down, and everyone rejoiced. Finally they could get the help they needed, from a real person who knew what they were doing."
Hunting Rights
In a clever conservation initiative, The Raincoast Conservation Foundation has purchased exclusive hunting rights in a British Columbia reserve - the Great Bear Rainforest - to protect wildlife. The Toronto Star reports that the group raised $1.92 million over two years to buy the rights from hunters, making Raincoast (which has now intention of doing or allowing any hunting) the largest hunting tenure holder in B.C., covering more than 56,000 sq. km (21,620 sq. miles).
The Myth of The Male Hunter: In ancient times, women stayed at home gathering nuts and fruit whilst the men went out hunting. Not so...
What a lovely visual mood booster! Photographer Marcio Cabral won the Plant Life category of The Nature Photography Contest 2023 with this beautiful panorama image of Chapada dos Veadeiros, a Brazilian national park. The white flowers in the foreground of the photograph, entitled 'Pandora', were lit up to contrast with the sky.
Icelandic Initiative
Iceland, the land of fire and ice, plans to drill into a volcano's magma chamber to harness super-hot fumes for geothermal energy, aiming to power homes across the country with a renewable and limitless energy source. Unlike traditional geothermal plants, which tap into cooler regions, the project aims to tap into the magma chamber's higher temperatures, potentially generating at least ten times more power than conventional geothermal plants.
“We can't just hope for a brighter day, we have to work for a brighter day. Love too often gets buried in a world of hurt and fear. And we have to work to dig it out so we can share it with our family, our friends, and our neighbors.” Dolly Parton
On This Day
25 January 1961: The animated film One Hundred and One Dalmatians was released in the United States, and it became a Disney classic, especially noted for the villainous character Cruella De Vil.
Check out this sensibly priced, cute, ultra-compact sporty all-electric convertible. Carice TC2...
Americans have a surprising degree of satisfaction with their economic situation, according to recent findings. Axios Vibes...
Funny and Wise Quotes: A dozen great quotes to make you chuckle and reflect. Enjoy...
Mood Booster
'Funkytown' brilliantly synced to numerous Hollywood dance scenes.
