An uplifting collection of good news nuggets to help get the day off to a sunny start.
White Reindeer
Three adorable white reindeer calves are getting ready for Christmas as part of the UK’s only herd. Named Mr. Whippy, Vanilla, and 99, they were born in the summer and are now ready to join the rest of the herd on a tour around the country in the run up to Christmas. During the rest of the year, the free-ranging herd lives at the Cairngorms National Park where the snowy, cold conditions provide the best vegetation. The first ones were brought over from Swedish Lapland in 1952 as an experiment - and they have grazed the land ever since.
Santa's Reindeer Are All Female: Except, possibly, Rudolf. Here's the proof...
Mousetrap in NYC
Since 1952, Agatha Christie’s murder mystery The Mousetrap has entertained millions of theatergoers in London. Now, after 70 years of performances on the West End, the beloved whodunit is finally coming to Broadway, reports the New York Times. The London production is the longest-running play in the world and has been performed more than 28,000 times for more than 10 million audience members. The Mousetrap is slated to debut in New York sometime in 2023, though details about the upcoming Broadway run are still scant. Click here to sign up for latest news.
All-Female First
Blowing the whistle at the football clash between Germany and Costa Rica was Stéphanie Frappart, who lead an all-female refereeing team. Though many may wonder why it took so long, Frappart’s appearance is a milestone for inclusivity in the sport. That it happened in Qatar, the host country, where women’s rights are restricted, made it all the more special. “There are some difficulties in Qatar for women,” Frappart told the BBC. “I hope that this World Cup will help them.”
Fun Fact
Oxford University predates the Aztec Empire.
Patagotitan
A replica of what could have been the largest animal ever to walk on land is coming to London in the New Year. A cast of the sauropod dinosaur known as Patagotitan will go on show at the Natural History Museum - measuring some 35m from nose to tail, the beast could have weighed up to 70 tonnes in life - and is significantly larger than the museum’s most famous dinosaur, Dippy the diplodocus, which used to loom over its main gallery. "We should be able to get it in but there won't be much wriggle room," said exhibition developer Sinéad Marron. The replica skeleton is being loaned from Argentina's Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio, whose staff excavated the animal's giant bones in 2014.
Printed House
Scientists at the University of Maryland used one of the world’s largest 3D printers to create the first home made entirely of sustainable wood fibers and bio-resins. The 600-square-foot prototype house is fully recyclable and can be constructed in days, rather than months. As concrete accounts for around 8 percent of global emissions, reducing or entirely removing the need for concrete in homebuilding could be a game-changer for the environment.
Sharp Shooter
With 50 spray nozzles and a sophisticated computer system, tractors out in California’s central valley are towing artificially-intelligent robots behind them that look set to launch a fourth revolution in agriculture. Passing over a field they can specifically target individual weeds and crops at a rate of 20 per second, before blasting them with either de-weeder or fertilizer within a millimeter of accuracy. Verdant Robotics’ SprayBox robot can identify and treat 500,000 plants per hour while using 95 percent less chemical weedkiller.
“Real science can be far stranger than science fiction and much more satisfying.”
Stephen Hawking
On this Day
3 December 1967: Christiaan Barnard of South Africa performed the first human heart transplant, at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town.
The Kinder Shop
Here's a lovely idea: shopping for gorgeous goods and 'paying' by promising volunteer time at local children's charities. Read on...
BMW Micromobility Car(t)
From the Archives
Mood Booster
In memory of Fleetwood Mac's Christine McVie, here she is singing Songbird, a song she wrote for Rumours, the band's breakthrough album of 1977.