Today's global collection of short, positive news stories.
Giant Pigeon
The pigeon has landed. Or, it will soon. Right now it’s being hatched in Mexico. As if New Yorkers didn't have enough pigeons to contend with, a giant pigeon sculpture by Iván Argote is set to perch atop the High Line in New York in October. This 16-foot-tall aluminum artwork will be installed at the intersection of 30th Street and 10th Avenue, where it will remain for 18 months. But at least it will not be dropping 'you-know-what' on he heads of passers by. The pigeon’s name, or at least the title of the work, is Dinosaur. “I hope it doesn’t cause any accidents,” says Iván Argote, the artist who created it. “But when you’re driving, it really attracts your eye. You look up and are just like, What?”
Eye of a Needle
At the other end of the size spectrum is work by artist Willard Wiggins. He makes the world’s smallest sculptures. So small that they can fit into the eye of a needle. The late Queen Elizabeth was perhaps Wiggins’s most prominent patron. One day, he got a letter from Buckingham Palace saying that Her Majesty would be happy to accept the micro crown Wiggins crafted for her. “She looked down the microscope and said ‘I don’t believe what I’m seeing,’ and it’s amazing to get that kind of reaction,” he remembers.
Female Entrepreneurs
Women in Scotland have reached a "landmark moment" in business, with the number of female entrepreneurs matching the number of men for the first time. A report has found that women were starting and running new businesses at virtually the same rate as men last year.
The global entrepreneurship monitor (GEM), an annual measure of entrepreneurship, found 8.6 percent of working-age women in Scotland were running or setting up a new business in 2023 compared with 9.8 percent of men, something the report describes as "statistical parity".
Unicorn of Whales
Good news from the Canadian conservation authorities. They have declared the narwhal - the unicorn of whales - no longer at risk, since its population is stable despite threats.
By the Numbers
71%: The drop in teen birth rates in the US between 2000 and 2022.
40%: The global decline in the number of children not attending school since 2000.
79%: The Paris Olympics averaged more than 34 million American viewers over the first three days, up 79 percent from the Summer Games in Tokyo.
19th Century Bubbly
A 19th-century shipwreck has been found off the coast of Sweden with more than 100 bottles of Champagne onboard - including some that still appear to be bubbly. The booze-laden wreck was just discovered by a team of Polish divers called Baltitech. Using sonar, they identified what appeared to be an unremarkable boat on the bottom of the Baltic Sea, 190 feet down. They didn’t expect to find much, but two divers volunteered to head down and take a quick look at the vessel. Their brief trip turned into a nearly two-hour excursion. When they didn’t return right away, their colleagues knew they’d found something interesting. Experts say these particular bottles were produced between 1850 and 1876. Will it be drinkable? Well, that it depends on how well sealed the bottles are, whether any seawater leaked in and the quality of the wine in the first place.
"It isn't up to the painter to define the symbols. The public who look at the picture must interpret the symbols as they understand them." Pablo Picasso
On This Day
3 August 1778: The opera house La Scala opened in Milan with a performance of Antonio Salieri's Europa Riconosciuta.
Today's Articles
For The Next G20: Brazil proposes a 2 percent global tax on billionaires. It would affect 3,000 people and would raise around $250 billion.
Winston Churchill: Ten never-before-seen paintings by the former British Prime Minister are now on display in California (and online). Take a look...
Nominative Determinism: Describes how your name can influence your career. But it shouldn't be confused with an aptronym!
Mood Boosting Video
Rare Footage: Baby wolverine takes its first steps, plus footage of its family's behaviour.