Eddy's Good News: The diverse nature of plants DNA and a penguin obsessed bride from Chester

Virgin Radio

5 Jun 2024, 16:21

Every day during his show on Virgin Radio Anthems, Eddy Temple-Morris brings you Good News stories from around the world, to help inject a bit of positivity into your day!

Be sure to listen each day between 2pm and 6pm (Monday - Friday) to hear Eddy's Good News stories (amongst the finest music of course), but if you miss any of them you can catch up on the transcripts of Eddy's most recent stories below:

Wednesday 5th June 2024

I absolutely love stories that show how arrogant humans have been in assuming their dominion over animals and certainly plants. Here’s a great one.

It turns out we are, by quite some distance, not the most complicated organism on the planet, when viewed from a DNA level, as scientists have discovered the world’s largest genome, and it’s in a tiny fern. 

Say hello to the island of New Caledonia, where a little, unassuming fork fern has been identified as having the longest genome of any living organism on earth.

It is 50 times longer than a human’s, 7% longer than the previous world record-holding species for longest genome, and 20% longer than the record-holding animal.

It contains 416 chromosomes in every cell, compared to a human’s paltry 23, and if unravelled, would climb higher than Big Ben in London’s Westminster.

Dr. Ilia Leitch, Senior Research Leader at the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, puts it rather beautifully. 

“Compared to other organisms, plants are incredibly diverse when viewed at the DNA level, and that should make us pause to think about their intrinsic value in the wider picture of global biodiversity,” 

Via: goodnewsnetwork.org

Credit: Chester Zoo/ Baby penguins hatched

On Monday we had a heart warming and waddlesome story about a penguin obsessed bride from Chester. This story is dedicated to her!

It’s hatching season for her beloved  Humboldt penguins at her local zoo in Chester, and this year has seen a record number of chicks hatched.

The 11 chicks joining the colony are a joy for visitors as well as handlers,  and have all successfully made it through the first 40 days of life—the most delicate period for the flightless birds—which means they can now start the naming process. 

The zoo has previously used themes to keep track of siblings and their birthdays, with previous generations being named after NHS doctors, Olympic athletes, and retail chocolate bars, this year’s theme is flowers. Nettle, Thistle, Dandelion, Tulip, and Daffodil are among the confirmed names so far.

Via: goodnewsnetwork.org