Collection of inspiring, uplifting news snippets.
Clear skies over the UK last night provided the perfect opportunity for photographers of all skills and sizes to take pictures of the so-called Snow Moon.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, Victoria has become the third Australian jurisdiction to ban single-use plastics, including polystyrene containers, straws, cutlery, plates and plastic cotton bud sticks, in a bid to reduce the amount of plastic waste that goes to landfill each year.
World's first smart rugby ball In time, this technology could be used for pretty much any sport involving a ball. Trainers, team managers and statisticians are going to love it - maybe, even, fans too.
Raise a glass to Calvin Tyler, who may have one of the best comeback stories of all time. 40 years ago he was forced to drop out of college in his hometown of Baltimore because he couldn't afford the tuition fees and became a UPS driver; and worked his way to the top of the corporate ladder. Now he and his wife, Tina, have donated $20 million to endow scholarships for students needing financial aid. It's the largest ever private donation from an alumnus to Morgan State University.
There's good news for other drivers too, as Britain’s Supreme Court delivered a final blow to Uber in a long legal battle with its drivers about their employment status in the country, when it ruled that the drivers are “workers” and not “independent third-party contractors”, and are therefore entitled to benefits and protections. What next for the wider gig economy?
The European Union’s medicines regulator is set to recommend Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine early next month, reports Bloomberg. Approval from the European Medicines Agency is expected on 11 March, an EU official was reported to have told the news wire service. The move would pave the way for authorisation of a fourth Covid-19 vaccine, alongside those from Moderna, AstraZeneca and a partnership of Pfizer and BioNTech.
Petrol- and diesel-engined cars have forever had one major advantage over electric vehicles: refuelling speed. But that looks set to change with the release of a new fast-charging battery. Israeli firm StoreDot has unveiled its new lithium-ion car battery, which can be fully recharged from empty in just five minutes, a development that would surely eliminate 'range anxiety'.
Postcard arrives 77 years late The British postal service is generally pretty good, so what happened on this occasion?
Scène de rue à Montmartre by Vincent van Gogh has been part of the same French family’s private collection for more than a century, but is now about to go on public display for the first time. It's part of a rare series depicting the celebrated Moulin de la Galette, and was painted in 1887 during the two years the Dutch artist spent sharing an apartment in Paris with his brother Theo. It will be exhibited in London, Amsterdam and Paris before being sold by Sotheby’s in March when it is expected to fetch between €5m and €8m.
Planting crops - and carbon too There's a more nature-friendly way of farming that also provides a powerful new climate solution that could result in capturing nearly 10 percent of the planet's carbon dioxide drawdown requirements.
NASA has just officially named its HQ in Washington DC after Mary W. Jackson, the agency's first Black woman engineer. At the ceremony, NASA said: "Jackson's story is one of incredible determination. She personified NASA's spirit of persevering against all odds, providing inspiration and advancing science and exploration. There is no denying that she faced innumerable challenges in her work, work that would eventually help send the first Americans to space."
There's something extraordinarily uplifting about watching the running clips from Charriots of Fire against the background of the beautiful Vangelis theme tune. A good way to get yourself fired up for today's walk, jog or run!