Concluding the week with a selection of positive news nuggets.
Hundreds of millions of viewers across the world tuned into the hotly-anticipated final series of Game of Thrones earlier this year. So, it will come as great news for an enormous number of fans that a prequel show called House of the Dragon has been developed by franchise creator George RR Martin, set hundreds of years before Game of Thrones. Filming commences next year, but no launch date has yet been announced.
British Army's spray kills coronavirus: Army's 99.99 percent effective disinfectant spray kills Covid-19 in less than a minute, and you can now buy it online for £7.99. Better be quick!
The U.S. FDA has authorized the first-ever at-home Covid-19 test with no prescription requirement.
e-Bike innovation: Given that some upper-range e-bikes can travel pretty fast, it's definitely important that they don't skid uncontrollably when braking. ABS solves that problem. We have ABS on our cars, so why not bikes too?
Just in case you missed it, you'll be delighted to know that the Electoral College process has been concluded, and Joe Biden will definitely be the next President of the United States.
At the age of 107, Tillie Dybing from Minnesota recently beat Covid-19 after being diagnosed in the Autumn, according to officials at the Ecumen Lakes community home, where she has lived since 2015.
Berlin aims to become a zero waste city: The German capital's 10 year plan tackles the problem of waste from three angles. First, the city aims to encourage the reuse - or continued use - of objects that still have some life in them. Second, it wants to improve the recycling of waste that can’t be reused. And third, it aims to capture and repurpose the energy used in burning the rest. The plan builds on the Re-Use Berlin initiative, which the government launched in 2018 to inspire residents to “re-use instead of throwing away.”
Extraordinarily, Mount Kilimanjaro is ensuring the preservation of a vast coral reef. Cool water run-off from the mountain is enabling a 150 square mile reef to thrive with colourful coral and an abundance of marine life, including a species of fish that was once believed to be extinct.
Need a pantomime fix? Nottingham Playhouse is offering the chance to rent their Cinderella and watch it online. Filled with panto humour, upbeat musical numbers and all the characters you know and love, Cinderella is sure to bring some much-needed festive joy this Christmas. Enjoy from the comfort of your own home, at a time that suits your family best.
Act of kindness: An architect and his team have been rebuilding houses for free, in the poorer areas of Beirut which were also some of the worst affected by the giant explosion in August, because of their proximity to the port. Joe Salloum has renovated 22 houses and even built a new children's centre.
Diego the giant Galápagos tortoise was born sometime before 1920 on Española Island in the Galápagos Islands. Between 1928 and 1933, he was captured and sent to the United States, eventually ending up at the San Diego Zoo. By the 1960s, the Chelonoidis hoodensis species to which Diego belongs was down to less than 20 individuals on Española Island. In 1977, the 175-pound tortoise was sent back to Galápagos for a captive-breeding programme. After fathering at least 800 new additions to his species, Diego is responsible for about 40 percent of the 2,000 tortoises who now populate his native island. The now-100-year-old father of many was retired in June, returned alongside some of the other stud tortoises to Española. Diego is finally home, having saved his species. Quite an accolade! Experts estimate he may live 50 more years among his descendants.
Since flights are pretty much off the agenda, you might like to buckle up and enjoy this hilarious flight attendant's passenger safety briefing:
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