The arrival of drilling rigs at the UK’s Eden Project might not sound like a cause for celebration - industrial gear at a site promoting the natural world sounds incongruous to say the least. However, the machinery has been drafted in as part of a £17m geothermal energy project that could help the attraction become carbon negative by 2023. It's hoped the government funded project will inspire confidence in a technology that experts predict could meet 20 percent of the UK’s electricity demand.
Scientists believe that they might have found an effective vaccine for malaria, a disease that kills more than 400,000 people annually, most of them children in sub-Saharan Africa. Lynsey Bilsland, from the charity Wellcome, which helped fund the research, said: “This is an extremely promising result showing high efficacy of a safe, low-cost, scalable vaccine designed to reach the huge numbers of children who are most at risk of the devastating impact of malaria. While further studies are required, this marks a significant and exciting step forward.”
Captain Sir Tom Moore’s family said they felt “incredibly emotional” on what would have been the war veteran’s 101st birthday yesterday, but were pleased to see his legacy going strong as they launched a fundraising weekend in his honour. The family kicked off the Captain Tom 100 Challenge at Lord’s cricket ground, encouraging people to raise money for charity by attempting feats based on the number 100. Why not join in?
In further positive news that America is now taking climate change seriously, Hawaii makes history as first US state to declare a climate emergency. The state legislature is set to pass a resolution which will declare that climate change poses a risk to humanity and the environment, requesting statewide collaboration toward an “immediate, just transition and emergency mobilization effort to restore a safe climate”.
UK supermarket giant Asda has announced plans to sell pre-loved clothes at 50 of its stores. Increased demand for secondhand clobber, fuelled by a rising awareness about fashion’s ecological footprint, prompted the decision. Asda said the initiative would enable its customers to help “prevent thousands of tonnes of garments going to landfill each year”.
Global electric car sales surged by 41 percent in 2020 despite the economic difficulties, with three million new electric cars registered in 2020. The uptick in electric vehicles came even as total car sales dropped by 16 percent.
The UK economy is on course for its biggest economic boom since 1948 as the country’s coronavirus vaccination programme allows consumers to go out and spend, according to the chief executive of Barclays. Jes Staley predicted the strongest year for economic growth since the aftermath of the second world war, at 6.5 percent this year, as “tremendous pent-up demand” built up during the pandemic is released.
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Trip up the Matterhorn...
Stunning 4 minute drone footage ascending and then descending the mighty Matterhorn in the Swiss Alps.
Today's mood boosting nature video.