Ensuring the week ends on an upbeat note with today's selection of positive news stories.
Naomi's Solo Show
When London's Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) dedicates an entire show to one person, particularly one whose career is still very much ongoing, it's usually a sign that A-list stardust is incoming. This time it's the turn of supermodel Naomi Campbell, a woman whose work and life has been in the headlines since she burst on to the fashion scene in the 80s at the tender age of 16. The south Londoner now follows in the footsteps of the likes of David Bowie, Frida Kahlo and Kylie, who have also had solo exhibitions at the prestigious London museum. The show runs at the V&A in South Kensington from 22 June to April 2025.
Mystery Monolith
A mirrored monolith was just spotted in the desert, and Las Vegas police have no idea how it got there. In a post on Facebook this week, the police confirmed that a monolith had been found along a popular hiking trail. “We see a lot of weird things when people go hiking like not being prepared for the weather, not bringing enough water... but check this out!,” the police said. “Over the weekend, Las Vegas Metro Search and Rescue spotted this mysterious monolith near Gass Peak north of the valley. HOW did it get up there??”
Lunistice
A rare lunar event is set to occur tonight at Stonehenge, the most famous megalithic structure in the world. You can watch it on a livestream from English Heritage at 21.30 BST / 16.30 EST. Find out more
World's Oldest Wine
The oldest wine ever to have been discovered in its original liquid form is reddish-brown and, rather literally, full-bodied. Reddish-brown because of the chemical reactions that have taken place in the 2,000 years since the white wine was poured into a funeral urn in southern Spain - and potentially full-bodied because the urn also contained, among other things, the cremated bones of a Roman man. Analysis by experts at the University of Córdoba has established that the ancient tawny liquid inside the urn - which was found in a rare, untouched Roman tomb that was accidentally discovered in the Andalucían town of Carmona five years ago - is a local, sherry-like wine. Prior to the discovery, the oldest wine preserved in a liquid state was the Speyer wine bottle, which was excavated from a Roman tomb near the German city of Speyer in 1867 and dated to about AD 325.
Pixar
They have been celebrating at Disney's Pixar studios in Burbank, California, thanks to the impact of their latest release Inside Out 2. The movie opened to a historic $154 million in America (the second-biggest animated launch of all time and the biggest since Barbie almost a year ago), and it has also taken a whopping $300 million in overseas markets, reports The Hollywood Reporter.
Did You Know?
Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, is the only planetary body in the solar system besides our own that currently hosts active rivers, lakes, and seas. But you wouldn't want to swim in them. Titan’s otherworldly river systems are thought to be filled with liquid methane and ethane that flows into wide lakes and seas, some as large as the Great Lakes on Earth.
New National Park
New national park in Australia will be home to 12 threatened species. The 37,422-ha (145 square mile) Comeroo Station in NSW provides habitat for at least 158 native species, including the threatened eastern fat-tailed gecko, the south-eastern hooded robin, and the Hall's babbler. The property boasts alluvial floodplains, wetlands, grasslands, woodlands, and Yantabulla Swamp, an internationally-recognised area that hosts up to 50,000 waterbirds at any one time.
"Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it’s better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring." Marilyn Monroe
On This Day
21 June 1893: The first Ferris wheel (invented by George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr., a Pittsburgh-based engineer) made its debut, at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago.
Today's Articles
Global Cities Index: A little known French city has been named the best city in the world for quality of life.
The Art of Mukimono: It's the Japanese tradition of carving fruit and vegetables into elaborate, intricate garnishes.
Mood Boosting Video
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