Today's collection of good news snippets.
The Gulf of Mexico’s largest coral sanctuary just got tripled in size, thanks to the U.S. government formally approving the expansion of the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, taking it from 56 square miles to 160 square miles. Expansion of the sanctuary emerged as one of the top priority issues following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion, which resulted in the largest offshore marine oil spill in U.S. history, with government scientists and non-governmental organizations urging additional protections for marine life and essential Gulf habitat.
OGN reported last summer about a premium postal service in France whereby postmen and women could check in on the elderly during their rounds, and now it seems that the UK's Royal Mail is considering a similar plan. In France's scheme, called “Watch over my parents” (Veiller sur mes parents) postal firm offers home checks for elderly and vulnerable residents from about £17 a month. It's a fabulous idea! Why not the UK too? Or everywhere, for that matter.
Scientific breakthrough offers hope in the fight against Alzheimer’s. The disease was once thought to be inevitable part of ageing but new drug trials are showing tantalising signs of progress.
Fancy a giggle on your next Zoom call? Why not hire a goat to make a cameo? Dot McCarthy, a farmer in Lancashire, started the enterprise as a bit of a joke last year, but had tremendous results - she's made £50,000 and thus avoided furloughing staff. Have a read through the profiles and pick your favourite goat from the flock; an appearance costs £5 and they're happy to join a call from anywhere in the world.
Putin enjoying vaccine success: Countries are queuing up for supplies of Sputnik V (the V is for victory, not 5) after peer-reviewed results published in The Lancet medical journal showed the Russian vaccine protects against Covid-19 about as well as U.S. and European shots.
Global green bond issuance reached a record high of $269.5 billion last year and could reach $450 billion this year, say the Climate Bonds Initiative. Green bonds are a growing category of fixed-income securities that raise capital for projects with environmental benefits, such as renewable energy or low-carbon transport.
As the move to cleaner energy gathers pace, aeroplanes seek more sustainable fuels in order to reach net-zero emissions. Boeing aims to use 100% sustainable fuels on all planes by 2030. Now, Rolls-Royce has conducted the first tests of a 100% Sustainable Aviation Fuel in a jet engine.
Amsterdam's styling off-grid floating village: in the Netherland's capital city, residents and architects have created a visionary floating neighbourhood called Schoonschip - Dutch for "clean ship."
NASA and SpaceX have announced that they are collaborating on a remarkable space mission, one that could help us better understand the origins of our universe. SpaceX is providing launch services for NASA's Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization, and Ices Explorer (SPHEREx) mission...yes, it's a bit of a mouthful. The $100m two-year mission aims to explore the sky in near-infrared light and could be the key to answering comic questions involving the birth of the universe. Data will be gathered on more than 300 million galaxies and is set to be launched in 2024.
Experts say 75 percent of us are dehydrated during the winter and have no clue.
Everyone in a Leeds shopping centre, in northern England, was completely surprised by this - but obviously loved it. Let's face it, an injection of Nessun Dorma is guaranteed to brighten the day!