OGN Friday
- 5 hours ago
- 3 min read
Wrapping up the week with today's global collection of positive news stories.
‘Queue For Jumping’
This delightful image shows a line of gentoo penguins queuing up to jump into the Antarctic Sea, and was shortlisted in the Motion Category of the Sony World Photography Awards. The competition has unveiled the 10 category winners and shortlisted photographers for the 2026 Open competition. Now in its 19th year, the competition celebrates the unique power of the single image to pique curiosity, spark the imagination, and reveal a wider narrative about our world. This year’s shortlist was drawn from a staggering pool of talent, with more than 430,000 images submitted across all competitions from over 200 countries and territories.
Filmed For First Time
Did you know that treetops emit ultraviolet sparkles during thunderstorms? Well, they do, and researchers just filmed the phenomenon in nature for the first time. Thunderstorms often illuminate the night sky with flashes of lightning. They also seem to make treetops glow and sparkle. In a new study, scientists provide the first direct observations of the weak electrical discharges around trees in nature. These outbursts - called coronae - are typically too faint for human eyes to detect. But since they also emit light at ultraviolet wavelengths, scientists were able to use a special setup involving a UV camera to document them outside of a laboratory.
Some Good Numbers
72: The percentage share of adults globally, according to a new Gallup survey, who think women in their country are treated with respect, up from 63 percent in 2022.
23: Countries that have eliminated mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis, reports the World Health Organisation. Denmark is the latest, and the first in the EU.
54: Year-over-year percentage increase in solar installations in Africa in 2025, according to the Global Solar Council.
Girl Power
If you really, really, really wanna own a piece of pop history, you better make it fast... The British Royal Mint is celebrating 30 years of Girl Power with an official Spice Girls coin, honouring the debut of their hit single ‘Wannabe’. Fans wishing to spice up their lives can now buy them. Prices range from £18.50 for a £5 denomination coin and £10,535 for a gold £200 denomination coin. In a first for the Royal Mint's "music legends" collection, there are five different packaging designs for the uncirculated colour versions of the coins to showcase each member of the group. Each design is limited to 15,000 coins worldwide, according to the Royal Mint.
Strange But True
During an amateur league-title clash in Istanbul, a kick by Istanbul Yurdum Spor goalkeeper Muhammed Uyanik collided with a “low-flying gull”, said The Guardian. Team captain Gani Catan “rushed to help the stricken bird - and, in a jaw-dropping moment, he took to performing CPR” until it regained consciousness. The bird is said to be recovering from a damaged wing. While his team went on to lose, Catan said: “We missed out on the championship, but it’s a wonderful thing to have helped save a life.”
Ambitious Rewilding
Kazakhstan is preparing to reintroduce tigers to a special habitat in the country’s south, one of the most ambitious rewilding programs anywhere on Earth. This includes reforestation of riparian woodland around the Ile River and its delta at Lake Balkhash, with around 90,000 trees planted since 2021; plus decades of work growing populations of prey species such as saiga antelope and Bukhara deer. Thus far, a single breeding pair of Amur tigers (also known as Siberian tigers) from the Netherlands has been introduced, with the first wild Amur tigers from Russia arriving in Kazakhstan in the coming months. Meanwhile, conservation in India has successfully doubled the native population of tigers, a new study reveals. India’s native tiger population has clawed its way above 3,600. Along with being 75 percent of the world’s tiger population, it was twice as many as the best estimates of the numbers in 2006.
"Spring will come and so will happiness. Hold on. Life will get warmer." Anita Krizzan
On This Day
6 March 1899: Aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) is patented by Felix Hoffmann at the German company Bayer. Aspirin was first sold in powder form and later in tablets (1915), becoming a top-selling global drug.
Today's Articles
Milestone Birthday: Sir David Attenborough will be 100 yeas old on 8 May and the BBC is marking the occasion with a week long celebration.
Mood Boosting Video
Hilarious Moment: Baby elephant tickles a Kenyan reporter as he tries to tell a serious story about wildlife conservation.