Mid week mood boosting nuggets of positive news.
When metal detecting enthusiast Kevin Duckett spotted a glint of gold peeking out beneath the soil of an English field he quickly realized he’d stumbled onto something rather special. “I was holding what appeared to be a heavy solid gold and enameled figurine.” Historians believe that he has unearthed the missing centerpiece of Henry VIII’s crown. The gold figurine, valued at roughly £2 million, depicts 15th-century English king Henry VI.
Matt Hancock resists a smile: It isn’t often that the UK Health Secretary gets to report good news. So, at his latest Downing Street press conference, he seized the opportunity like a child spotting a sweet whilst no adults were looking. You could hardly blame him. The numbers were astonishing.
To recognize the important role bicycles now play in the city’s day to day life (it has risen by over 50 percent), NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio has recently revealed “radical” plans to turn vehicle lanes into cycling paths on two of the city’s historic bridges: Brooklyn Bridge and the Queensboro Bridge. The move is part of the city’s post-pandemic recovery plans and will also involve building five bicycle streets across the city.
The city of Lahti, Finland, has been voted this year's European Green Capital and is well on the way to being carbon-neutral by 2025. The city's aspirations are beautifully illustrated by the new strip for the Lahti Pelicans, their ice hockey team.
Good news for the 90,000 residents of the Isle of Man - situated in the Irish Sea between Great Britain and Ireland - as it lifts all lockdown rules. Pubs, schools and shops reopen with social distancing and face masks scrapped after 25-day circuit breaker.
More than 150 corporate titans, including Amazon boss Jeff Bezos (even though he's just stepped down as CEO), Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff and Ford Motor Co. chairman Bill Ford, have signed an open letter to President Joe Biden to pledge their support for the new administration's goals to combat climate change. In particular, the open letter underscored the potential job growth new climate change mitigation technology will provide.
Restoring Britain's wild flower meadows: A decade ago, when Prince Charles discovered that England had lost 97 percent of all its natural wildflower meadows, this long standing champion of sustainability and biodiversity, decided to take action.
Scientists have discovered a tiny new species of chameleon in a patch of rainforest in northern Madagascar. This so-called nano-chameleon is about the size of a sunflower seed, fits on the tip of a finger (as pictured), and is probably the smallest reptile on Earth.
Barcelona embraces biodiversity: The Spanish city is re-imagining its relationship with nature.
Johnson & Johnson is on the verge of submitting its Covid-19 vaccine to the FDA. If approved, it would join Pfizer and Moderna as the third vaccine producer for the US. The vaccine produces a significantly lower immunity than the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines - 66 percent compared with 94 percent. But many experts say what matters is getting vaccine shots in arms - and the one-shot regimen of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, combined with its simpler storage requirements, will make vaccination possible in settings where the requirements of the other vaccines prohibit their use.
Man's best friend: When it comes to devotion, there’s no dog more dogged than Boncuk who patiently waited outside the doors of a hospital for almost an entire week for her “human” to come home. When Cemal, Boncuk’s owner, went in for treatment in the Turkish city of Trabzon, the determined hound trailed the ambulance to the Medical Park Hospital. Cemal's daughter explained that while Boncuk was sent home each night and placed under “house arrest,” the next day, she would be off to the hospital again - all by herself. She kept up the routine for Cemal's entire stay but now, happily, they have been reunited.
How romantic! It’s not every day you get to propose to your High School sweetheart. For the past six months this guy has been working to animate 'his intended' and himself into her favorite movie, Sleeping Beauty. The screening of the modified movie produces the desired result!