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Friday's Good News

Updated: Jul 10, 2022

Concluding the week with an upbeat bundle of positive news nuggets.


Barbara Mikulski
Barbara Mikulski | Photo: Universal Studios | Wikimedia
Senate Women

For the first time in more than 230 years of US Senate history, two rooms have been formally named in honor of women - Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), who retired in 2016 as the longest-serving female senator, and the late Margaret Chase Smith (R-Maine), first woman to win election to the House and the Senate. "Architecture tells a lot about the Senate and its views on women," said Mikulski, who served for 30 years and became the first woman to chair the powerful Appropriations Committee. While 24 women now serve in the Senate, things were different when Mikulski arrived in 1987. There was, for example, no women’s restroom near the Senate.


Robert H. Mohlenbrock | USDA
Orchid Discovery

Botanists in Vermont have confirmed that they’ve discovered a population of small orchids believed to be extinct in the state since 1902. “Discovering a viable population of a federally threatened species unknown in our state for over a century is astounding,” said botanist Bob Popp. The small whorled pogonia is a globally-rare orchid that, in the past, had bloomed across the eastern US states and Ontario.


Three pairs of blue jeans shaped to create a circle
Circular Economy

The team behind the Italian startup Nazena has developed a patented process to recover 100 per cent of textile fibres from industrial waste and used clothes. These are then turned into sustainable packaging and sound-proof wall panels. The company therefore provides a circular economy solution that brings much needed innovation and sustainability to the highly wasteful fashion industry. Indeed, a whopping 87 percent of used clothing currently ends up in landfills or incinerators.


The Airbus H225 helicopter powered by SAF
H225 helicopter | Airbus
SAF Chopper

Airbus has achieved a green aviation first as an H225 made the first-ever helicopter flight with both of its engines running on 100 percent Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), which is usually derived from biomass, including waste fat, oil, and grease. The test flight is part of Airbus' goal of reaching certification of 100 percent SAF by 2030 for both commercial aircraft and helicopters, and thereby reduce carbon dioxide emissions by up to 75 percent.

 
Seatherny

The serenity you feel when listening to the birds chirp.

 
Credit: Dan Shugar | University of Calgary
Woolly Mammoth

It was a young miner, digging through the northern Canadian permafrost in the seemingly aptly named Eureka Creek, who sounded the alarm when his front-end loader struck something unexpected in the Klondike gold fields. What he had stumbled upon would later be described by the territory’s palaeontologist as “one of the most incredible mummified ice age animals ever discovered in the world”: a stunningly preserved carcass of a baby woolly mammoth thought to be more than 35,000 years old. Remarkably, much of the skin and hair is still intact.


Colorado Coal

With a unanimous decision, the Colorado Public Utilities Commission has approved a plan to accelerate the end of coal in the state. It will retire its last coal power plant no later than January 2031, bringing an end to coal in Colorado. The plan offers support to impacted workers and communities, and lays the groundwork for a clean energy future.


Record Breaker

An Australian mechanic has smashed the world record for most push-ups in an hour - completing a staggering 3,182. Daniel Scali took on the Herculean task, cranking out 51 push-ups every minute for a solid hour. His feat has been officially confirmed as the second Guinness World Record achieved by the 28-year-old, following his record-breaking stint last year when he spent nine hours and 30 minutes in an abdominal plank position.

 
Quote of the Day

“You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.”

A.A. Milne

 
On this Day

1 July 1979: Sony began selling its Walkman, a portable cassette player; an international sensation, the device changed the way people listened to music.

 

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Nature Mood Booster

Aerial footage captured a unique view of reef manta rays feeding together off the coast of Oahu, Hawaii. Like us, they're social eaters.




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