What better way to start the month than with a global round up of positive news?
Contemplative Moment
A magically poetic moment between tennis star Rafael Nadal and a moth has won Andy Cheung the title of Digital Photographer of the Year at the third annual Australian Photographic Prize. One of the few remaining photo competitions that accepts both printed and digital photographs.
Guinness 0.0
Guinness is the world's best selling beer. Now, it's on to another winner as non-alcoholic Guinness sales have doubled in Europe amid surging demand from teetotal Gen Z drinkers. Guinness 0.0 now accounts for 3 percent of all global Guinness sales. Debra Crew, chief executive of the distiller, said: “We literally cannot make enough of it. It is flying off the shelves.”
Guinness Surfer Advert: Considered by many to be one of the greatest TV commercials of all time. Released in 1999.
Life Changing
40-year-old Raju Gond and his younger brother Rakesh Gond from the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh take home around $4 per day from digging for gold on government-leased land. When they don’t find much, they work in farmers’ fields driving tractors instead. This uncertain work landed the older Gond in considerable debt - about $6,000 - putting food on the table for his family while renewing his prospecting lease. Then, one day, he found a a 19.22-carat diamond worth almost $100,000. “Our lives have changed forever” he joyously told CNN, having just opened his first-ever bank account in anticipation of the money from the sale of the diamond at auction. “The first thing I’ll do is pay back debt. Then we will invest in all children getting educated, building homes, buy some land and maybe a tractor too,” he said.
Head Turner
Czech artist David Černý is known for his provocative sculptures that often comment on political and social themes. He has also created Lilith, a nearly 80-foot-tall, 35-ton figure of a woman made of metal. Based in Prague, she hugs the side of an apartment building, leaning towards the structure with her legs slightly placed apart. The statue isn’t stationary either - Lilith periodically turns her head 180 degrees.
Remarkable Trees
It’s general knowledge that trees are excellent at sequestering carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, locking it in their trunks and branches, and storing it long-term. Now, a new large-scale study also found that tree bark absorbs the greenhouse gas methane. While methane doesn’t last as long in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, it does trap significantly more heat in Earth’s atmosphere - so it is much worse in the short term. This discovery shows that forests provide even more climate benefits than previously thought.
Via Appia
Italy is home to the highest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the world and Via Appia, or the Appian Way, recently made the prestigious list, becoming the country’s 60th inscribed location. The oldest of the great roads built by the ancient Romans beginning in 312 B.C., the Appian Way is around 500 miles long and nicknamed the “Queen of Roads,” or Regina Viarum. It was an essential roadway for Rome, and clearly demonstrates “the advanced technical skill of Roman engineers,” according to the UNESCO description.
EU Grid
Wind turbines and solar panels have overtaken fossil fuels to generate 30 percent of the European Union’s electricity in the first half of the year. Power generation from burning coal, oil and gas fell 17 percent in the first six months of 2024 compared with the same period the year before, according to climate thinktank Ember. It found the continued shift away from polluting fuels has led to a one-third drop in the sector’s emissions since the first half of 2022.
“We are witnessing a historic shift in the power sector, and it is happening rapidly.”
“Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old.” Franz Kafka
On This Day
1 August 1980: Icelandic teacher and politician Vigdís Finnbogadóttir became president of Iceland; she was the first woman in the world to be elected head of state in a national election.
Today's Articles
Hybrid-Electric Airliner: Travellers should be making all-electric airline flights in this 30 seat aircraft by 2028.
Foods For Longevity: Longevity expert Dr. Mark Hyman swears by these five foods to age well, live longer, and reduce the risk of chronic disease.
Mood Boosting Video
Breathtaking Landscapes: 30 days travelling in the wilds of China condensed into four spectacular minutes.