Upbeat News Thursday

5 hours ago
4 min read

An eclectic smorgasbord of tasty news nuggets to perk up the day.

a white mountain hare is perched at the entrance of a small cave — “White on White,” by Luca Lorenz. Overall Winner. GDT Nature Photographer of theYear 2026

Perfect Camouflage

A ghostlike scene has won photographer Luca Lorenz the title of GDT Nature Photographer of the Year 2026. Captured by the 20-year-old wildlife photographer from Berlin, the lauded image depicts a rugged slope in the Swiss Alps, high above the tree line. The photo has a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it quality, in which a white mountain hare is perched at the entrance of a small cave. It blends in so well with its surroundings that it’s hard to spot at first glance. “For a long time, I observed the hare as it sat practically motionless, perfectly camouflaged with its white winter coat, gazing out across the distant Alpine peaks,” explains Lorenz.

Turning The Tables

At the 2026 Winter Olympics, Team USA freestyle skier Hunter Hess said in an interview that it brought up “mixed emotions” to represent the U.S. at the Games, saying, “Just because I’m wearing the flag doesn’t mean I represent everything that’s going on in the U.S.” Then, President Trump called Hess “a real loser.” Now, Hess is turning that insult into something positive. He just launched The Real Loser Project, a merchandise line where 100 percent of proceeds support Stoked, a nonprofit that gives underserved kids access to action sports and mentorship.

the 3,000-ft-long Danjiang Bridge spanning Tamsui River — Credit: Northern Region New Construction Branch Office, Highway Bureau, MOTC Taiwan

Longest of is Kind

This week, Taiwan cut the red ribbon on a giant infrastructure project its own construction team once deemed "impossible:" the 3,000-ft-long Danjiang Bridge. The structure features a single-tower asymmetric cable-stayed design courtesy of Zaha Hadid Architects, and is the longest of its kind in the world. Its form is said to minimize its visual impact and impedance of sunset views over the Tamsui River from popular spots nearby - and it's engineered to withstand severe earthquakes too. The bridge shaves 25 minutes off the travel time between the two towns on either side.

Making a Difference

Two American high schoolers, 15-year-old Erica Choi and 16-year-old Dominick Redmond, are asking Colorado restaurants to “skip the stuff” by cutting down on single-use items like plastic cutlery, napkins, straws, and condiments. They drafted a new bill with the help of Democratic state lawmakers Sen. Lisa Cutter and Rep. Meg Froelich to reduce waste by requiring restaurants to provide single-use items only upon request. And now, the Colorado legislature is considering the bill.

Four puffins on a rock on Skomer Island — Record-breaking season

A Great Year

According to The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales, puffins are having a record-breaking breeding year. Every year, the conservation nonprofit does boots-on-the-ground research to count every single puffin on Skomer Island in Wales, setting out with binoculars and a notepad in hand to record all puffins in sight. This year, 52,019 puffins were counted on Skomer Island in Wales, beating the island’s 2025 record of 43,626. Monitoring bird species and numbers is a critical conservation strategy, offering long-term insight into the health of population numbers.

Big Boy

All aboard! The world’s largest operating steam locomotive kicked off the eastern leg of a rare coast-to-coast journey this week in honor of America’s 250th birthday, marking its first-ever tour to the East Coast. Departing from Cheyenne, Wyoming, Union Pacific’s Big Boy No. 4014 is set to make more than 50 whistle-stops in 10 states over the next two months, as well as host eight major public display events and a July Fourth celebration in Philadelphia. Built in Schenectady, New York, and delivered to the Union Pacific Railroad in 1941, the 133-foot-long, 1.2 million-pound locomotive is the only operational Big Boy out of 25 that were constructed for transporting military equipment during World War II. Though 4014 was retired in 1961, Union Pacific reacquired it from a museum in 2013 and spent six years restoring it.

"One man can make a difference and every man should try." Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

On This Day

28 May 1936: Alan Turing submits On Computable Numbers for publication, in which he sets out the theoretical basis for modern computers. Turing's brilliant insight was proposing a Universal Turing Machine - a single device that could simulate any other machine by reading and executing stored instructions. This foundational concept birthed the idea of programmable software, proving that one piece of hardware could be adapted to perform infinite varying tasks.