Getting the week off to a positive start with a global round up of good news nuggets.
Media Literacy
In the age of fake news, it’s vital that people know how to critically evaluate the information they receive via the media. Enter Finland. It introduced media literacy training to schools in 2016, and has once again been ranked Europe’s most resistant nation to fake news. Finland was closely followed by Norway, Denmark, Estonia, Sweden and Ireland in the Media Literacy Index 2022. The UK ranked 11th.
Tears of Joy
Torres Strait Islander Yessie Mosby cried tears of joy when he learned that the UN human rights committee found that Australia violated his people's rights by failing to adequately protect them from the impacts of climate change. The complaint, filed in 2019 by Mosby and seven other islanders and their children, is one of a growing body of climate cases being brought around the world on human rights grounds. While the ruling is not legally binding, Mosby is optimistic the new Australian government will work with his people toward a solution. As the first legal action brought by small island inhabitants against a nation state, the finding could affect the 173 UN member states that have ratified the treaty.
This week we're doing a series on collective nouns. Oh, and if you are wondering what the collective noun for animals’ collective nouns is, that would be ‘terms of venery’. So here we go...
Parliament of Owls
You may already know that that's the collective noun for owls, but do you know why? It harks back to ancient Greek mythology, which saw them as a representation of Athena, goddess of wisdom. Our belief in the wisdom of parliaments may have ebbed over the ages, but owls are still esteemed as wise and canny creatures.
Ask for the Moon
…and in this case you’ll get it. A new digital camera can, astonishingly, capture a single dust particle on the Moon. It's the world’s largest digital camera, which has been in the making for a couple of years, and is now ready to be mounted onto its telescope. It lives at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in California, where technicians are currently putting the finishing touches to it. When they’re done, the camera will be shipped to Chile and mounted on a telescope located in the Andes.
Absquatulate
To leave somewhere abruptly. As in: Before the thief could absquatulate with the diamonds, he was surrounded by police officers. (Or, see below, a British Chancellor of the Exchequer.)
Short-Haul Flight Ban
Campaigners are calling on the UK to follow France’s lead by banning short-haul flights where there is a viable rail alternative. A report released by the Intergenerational Foundation thinktank suggests that such a policy could cut the UK’s domestic aviation emissions by a third. According to the IF, travelling by plane is around seven times more carbon intensive than taking a train. Wera Hobhouse, a Liberal Democrat MP who contributed to the report, said: “If the French can ban domestic flights with a rail equivalent, so too can the United Kingdom.”
And the Winner is...
Nominations for the worst calendar ever have been submitted and the British public has now voted. The only question that remains: who will be in the November slot?
Quote of the Day
"I don't want to get to the end of my life and find that I just lived the length of it. I want to live the width of it as well." Diane Ackerman
On this Day
17 October 1907: Guglielmo Marconi's company begins the first commercial transatlantic wireless service between Glace Bay, Nova Scotia and Clifden, Ireland.
Good News on Energy Prices
Now that European countries are no longer hoarding natural gas supplies, prices have already halved. Read on...
Acts of Kindness
Good News Magazine
Mood Booster
The late 70s and 1980s were the funniest times for beer adverts on British TV. Here's Heineken's most hilarious contribution...