Wrapping up the week with a worldwide collection of positive news nuggets.
Face Value
Gillian Anderson has played a string of clever women, from Dana Scully in The X-Files to Emily Maitlis in Scoop (the new Netflix drama about the infamous Prince Andrew interview) which is available on Netflix from today. And she thinks she has figured out why she is so often cast as "women who have unbelievable brains". "My resting face is intellectual," she told The Observer, "as if I'm thinking about Proust or the world order. In fact, it's usually, actually, dinner."
Listen to Eclipse
As you are no doubt already aware, a total solar eclipse will darken skies in the contiguous United States on Monday, as the moon’s shadow will sweep across nearly 32 million U.S. residents, and millions more will travel to the path of totality and look up. But the Exploratorium - a San Francisco museum of science, technology and the arts - doesn’t just want you to watch the eclipse. It wants you to listen. While the eclipse is underway, the museum will create a live sonification, or translation into sound, of the spectacular celestial event. The museum’s 8 April programming begins at 10:00 a.m. PST (18:00 GMT) and includes four streams on YouTube: live coverage in both English and Spanish; a real-time telescope feed; and the musical sonification, which will accompany the visuals. To give you an idea of what the eclipse may sound like...
Listen to Space With Cosmic Sonification: NASA has released some remarkable and rather eerie sound renderings of a supernova, a galaxy and a nebula. More...
American Bees
Does anyone remember how freaked out everyone was about all the honeybees dying? Freak out no more: America’s honeybee population has hit an all-time high, according to data from the new Census of Agriculture.
Paws in Travel
Dogs wait to board trains reserved for animals and their owners during a special "pet day" event on the Taipei Metro's Red Line. Transport bosses in the Taiwanese capital laid on four pets-only trains, which were divided between dog-exclusive and cat-exclusive "on the advice of animal experts", said Focus Taiwan.
Cold Case
Even if a criminal wears gloves, their cast-off DNA may still be present in a room's air. A study suggests that if such material gets sucked up by an air conditioner, it could let investigators know if a suspect has or hasn't been in a certain room - according to detective work by scientists from Australia's Flinders University.
EU Ukraine Poll
45 percent of voters across the EU are in favour of Ukraine joining the bloc, while 35 percent are openly against it, and another 20 percent are in two minds about it, a Euronews/Ipsos poll carried out among 26,000 respondents across 18 member states has found. Before the war, the prospect of Ukraine joining the bloc was considered remote.
Solar Catamaran
Sunreef have developed a new catamaran that's described as “the ultimate sustainable explorer yacht.” The 131-footer features an array of innovative green technologies that allow it to cruise the seas without emissions, as it's equipped with an electric powertrain rather than the traditional diesel engines. The hull and superstructure are covered in Sunreef’s proprietary “solar skin.” The system, which includes hundreds of square feet of solar panels, reportedly generates enough power to run every system on board.
"If you cannot find peace within yourself, you will never find it anywhere else." Marvin Gaye
On This Day
5 April 1621: The Mayflower departed for England after having deposited 102 Pilgrims at what became the American colony of Plymouth (Massachusetts).
The Nordic nation is on track to be the first country to have more EVs on the road than fossil-fuel powered cars. How?
Solar desalination system converts seawater into drinkable water - that's cheaper than tap water. Major achievement...
Mood Booster
Don't watch this wingsuit proximity flying compilation if you're of a nervous disposition!
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